The Orioles Prepare for Private Equity Control

It looks like the Orioles sale is finally going to happen. I’ve had several plugged-in sources tell me that the team’s owner, John Angelos, has agreed to sell the franchise to a group led by two private equity billionaires: David Rubenstein, who started the Carlyle Group, hails from Baltimore, and has been tied to the deal for months; and Ares Management Corp. co-founder Mike Arougheti, who lives in New York. The extent of Arougheti’s involvement is unclear, but Rubenstein will become the “control person,” the term MLB uses for teams’ decision-makers. The deal values the club at $1.725 billion.