Rumors are flying and a source close to the dealings says the sale of a minority stake in the New York Mets will likely come to a close by the end of this month.
According to ESPN.com, the deal could be announced before June 1.
"It's not imminent," the source told ESPN. "A lot of people have been speculating this week, or the next few days. That's just not the case."
Four different groups are speculated to still be in the running out of the eight who submitted bids. The New York Post reports the group leaders as the following: hedge-fund manager Steve Cohen, former commodity trader Ray Bartoszek teamed with private investor Anthony Lanza, hedge-fund manager Anthony Scaramucci and 1-800-Flowers.com founder James McCann.
The four are believed to have made it this far on their financial assets, and compatibility with the Mets' show-runners owner Fred Wilpon and son Jeff Wilpon and Mets' chief operating officer and president Saul Katz.
"It's really just negotiating a deal," said the source.
The sale of the minority share has a projected $200 million, which will of course help pay off the $25 million loan the MLB gave the family in October, and a $22 million stadium bond payment due in June on the bonds that financed Citi Field's construction two summers ago.
The share percentage is a variable up to 49 percent. The Wilpons do not intend to bring in new partners who may have the ability to drive them out in the future as majority owners.
"Non-controlling means non-controlling," a source close to the deal said. "Nothing has changed on that."
