AEG Still Up For Grabs

Namely, a sale. Not yet. AEG only recently announced it is looking for a buyer now that billionaire Philip Anschutz is selling it. That sale may not happen too soon, considering all the beads that need to slide from one side of the abacus to the other. Some reports say AEG is worth about $7 billion while president Tim Leiweke has said he’s seen figures starting at that number and going up to $15 billion.

Meanwhile, one of the speculated buyers, John Malone, has said he’s not interested. Asked by the Denver Post if he was going to buy the company, a spokesman for the Liberty Media chairman wrote back a detailed response: “No interest.”

Patrick Soon-Shiong, dubbed the richest man in Los Angeles, is still being mentioned as a potential buyer. But even though he is worth about $7 billion, there is word he is looking at the purchase with the help of Guggenheim Partners, which is worth, technically, many, many, many billions (it manages about $125 billion in investments).

The concept that more than one entity would buy AEG isn’t far-fetched. In fact, when Leiweke spoke to Pollstar about the sale, he consistently referred to the “new partners.” If there are some ladies-in-waiting, it wouldn’t surprise Los Angeles Times writer Sam Farmer.

“Anschutz recently gave Leiweke and his management team five-year extensions,” Farmer wrote. “If you’re selling your company, wouldn’t you want to leave those slots open for the next owner to fill? Unless, of course, you have a good idea who that next owner will be, and that person has signed off on the move.”

Of course, the Los Angeles media spent a good week running stories about how a sale could affect AEG’s proposed football stadium. Leiweke told the city council that nothing has changed, and that a new owner will commit to the building of Farmers Field, which is planned to open in 2017. Some view the sale as a plus, and others think the stadium is in jeopardy.

Meanwhile, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa got into it with the press after he stated he had prior knowledge of the sale. The media at the press conference wondered when he got the word, and Villaraigosa refused to elaborate. It got to the point where he repeated, like a mantra, “I am the mayor, and I knew.”