Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley and Los Angeles investor Tony Ressler have joined forces and re-entered the bidding for the Dodgers, a person familiar with the sale process said Monday. Ressler, a minority investor in the Milwaukee Brewers, is believed to be the only remaining bidder currently involved in MLB.
The Heisley-Ressler bid would be the eighth submitted to Major League Baseball for consideration. MLB has agreed to approve up to 10 bidders, after which outgoing owner Frank McCourt will select the winner. Blackstone Advisory Partners, the investment bank handling the sale for McCourt, has not ruled out submitting additional bidders to MLB.
MLB is working this week to complete its investigations into the bid groups and their proposed financing. Two committees of owners are scheduled to meet with prospective owners next week, with bidders then subject to a vote of all 30 owners.
A bid group must receive 23 votes for approval.
Blackstone is expected to ask that final bids be submitted as soon as March 16.
McCourt has agreed to select a winning bidder by April 1 and to close the sale by April 30, the same day he must pay $131 million to his ex-wife in a divorce settlement.
--Bill Shaikin
