BOSTON -- Miles Prentice raised his bid for the Boston Red
Sox to $755 million Monday and Charles Dolan upped his offer to
$750 million as they tried to convince the team to break its $660
million deal with John Henry's group.
Prentice sent a letter Monday night to John Harrington, accusing
the chief executive officer of the Red Sox of distorting Prentice's
offer to the team's limited partners.
Prentice, whose previous offer of $750 million was turned down
last month, offered to pay $495 million for the 53 percent
controlling share held by the Jean R. Yawkey Trust. Dolan offered
the trust $490 million.
"Should you proceed in accordance with your recent statement
that bidding closed on December 20th, we had by far the highest
offer and should be declared the winner," Prentice wrote.
Prentice wrote that his group was "shocked to read the
ever-changing litany of ex post facto false and misleading
statements that your representatives have made regarding the status
of our offer."
Dolan increased his offer as attorney general Thomas Reilly
disclosed he had been negotiating with the Red Sox since the
weekend and with Henry since Monday.
"We are negotiating more money for the charities and some other
items as well," Reilly said.
Reilly said he was negotiating only with the Red Sox and with
Henry's group.
The Red Sox turned down a $700 million offer from Dolan on
Sunday, saying the team would stick with the million bid it
accepted from Henry on Dec. 20. Baseball owners could approve
Henry's purchase of the team as early as Wednesday, when they meet
in Phoenix.
According to documents signed by all bidders, offers can be made
until the sale is finalized.
Dolan, the chairman of Cablevision Systems Corp., said his new
offer included $490 million for the Yawkey Trust and $260 million
for the limited partners.
Henry's offer would pay $409.2 million to the trust and the rest
to the limited partners, according to Samuel Tamposi, one of the
limited partners.
Reilly has been reviewing whether baseball commissioner Bud
Selig's office improperly influenced the Red Sox into accepting the
Henry group's bid.
Reilly has said he's concerned charities that would benefit from
the sale were shortchanged when the team accepted Henry's lower
offer.
Dolan claimed Monday that Henry's group also made a new offer.
Henry's group includes former San Diego Padres owner Tom Werner,
former Padres and Baltimore Orioles president Larry Lucchino and
former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, all friends of
Selig.
"We learned today that the Red Sox received a new bid from Mr.
Henry and his group which is different from his prior bid but
still, as we understand it, below our latest offer for the Boston
Red Sox," Dolan said in a statement. "We are delighted that the
auction process has been reopened.
"We are pleased to hear that the trust is interested in
maximizing the proceeds for its interests in the Boston Red Sox.
Joe Baerlein, a Henry spokesman, denied that the group had
increased its offer. "Absolutely not," he said. "Our bid was
presented on Dec. 20th, it was accepted on Dec. 20th and it was
reaffirmed.
"Any further last-minute maneuver to undo this deal or cause
further delay comes at a serious price for the baseball team and
its fans for the coming season.
"The Henry-Werner group are baseball people intent on bringing
a world championship to Boston. Their interest in purchasing the
Red Sox is neither short-term nor predicated on business interests
other than the business of baseball."
Dolan said he was "completely confident" that baseball owners
would approve of his offer and sent a copy of his letter to Reilly.
Harrington said Sunday that Henry's offer had the "highest
probability of closing."
In his letter, Prentice said his offer contains no contingencies
or closing conditions other than those the Red Sox had included,
and that baseball owners allowed the New York Yankees to structure
a transaction the way he wanted to structure his purchase of the
Red Sox.
The purchase price includes Fenway Park and a controlling 80
percent interest in the New England Sports Network cable station.
In related news, Werner and Lucchino have been told by Selig they must sell their
shares in the Padres, which are each less than 5 percent. Henry
still owns a 1 percent share of the Yankees.
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