By Katherine Burton
Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire hedge-fund manager Steve Cohen is bidding for the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to a person familiar with the effort, his second try this year to buy at least a piece of a Major League Baseball team.
Cohen, 55, who runs the $14 billion SAC Capital Advisors LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, is working with Steve Greenberg, a managing director at Allen & Co., and has hired the architectural firm Populous to look at the possible renovation of Dodger stadium, said the person, who was granted anonymity because the sale process is confidential. He?s also met with sports agent Arn Tellem, the person said.
Tellem may end up running the team if Cohen is successful in his bid, according to the Los Angeles Times, which reported the story earlier.
Jonathan Gasthalter, a spokesman for Cohen, declined to comment. Tellem and Greenberg didn?t return e-mails seeking a comment. Executives of Kansas City, Missouri-based Populous, whose offices are closed for the holidays, couldn?t be reached.
Cohen isn?t the only bidder said to be eyeing the Dodgers. Guggenheim Partners Chief Executive Officer Mark Walter said this month than he was joining with Basketball Hal of Fame member Magic Johnson to bid for the team.
The Dodgers, who have won six World Series championships, filed for bankruptcy on June 27. Last month, Frank McCourt, the team?s owner, agreed to sell. Bids are due on Jan. 13. At the time of the bankruptcy, sports bankers said the Dodgers may fetch up to $1 billion.
Mets Bid
Cohen bid this year for a minority stake in the New York Mets. Another hedge-fund manager, David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital Inc., won the bid, but the two parties later walked away from the deal.
The Mets? principal owners, Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, are in a legal battle with the trustee in charge of recovering money for investors in Bernard Madoff?s Ponzi scheme. The team got a $25 million loan from Major League Baseball a year ago, and the New York Times said this month that the franchise received a $40 million bridge loan made available through Bank of America Corp.
The Mets lost $70 million in 2011, General Manager Sandy Alderson told reporters at baseball?s Winter Meetings this month.
--with reporting by Erik Matuszewski and Scott Soshnick in New York and Rob Gloster in San Francisco. Editors: Larry Siddons, Jay Beberman
To contact the reporter on this story: Katherine Burton in New York at kburton@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net
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