Larry Ellison In AEG Bid?

Tech entrepreneur Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corp., is the latest gazillionaire to throw his name into the pool of potential AEG buyers.

The Hawaiian island-owning, America’s Cup catamaran-sponsoring Bay Area billionaire is said to at least be “intrigued” by the AEG empire, according to sources in a position to know. 

 
Though the third-wealthiest man in America certainly has the wherewithal for entry into the AEG bidding derby, Ellison’s interest in AEG is only preliminary.
 
Ellison is believed to be primarily attracted to the sports part of the sports-and-entertainment possibilities presented by the AEG availability – owning AEG would allow him to buy and relocate an NFL team to Los Angeles. He’s tried to buy teams before and failed, but in a near-required partnership with another source of funds, this time could be different.
 
AEG principal Philip Anschutz has reportedly set opening bids for the far-reaching company at $10 billion. 
 
Meanwhile, Forbes has broken, on paper, the company into blocks to come up with an $8 billion valuation. Venues, including the L.A. LIVE campus featuring Staples Center, O2 Arena in London and O2 World in Berlin ring up at between $4.8 billion to $6 billion; teams including the L.A. Lakers, Kings and Galaxy, plus the Houston Dynamos, range from $2 billion to $2.5 billion.
 
“New business,” including the Axs sports and entertainment ticket partnership, Farmers Field football stadium and other real estate development, tally another $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion, according to Forbes.
 
The magazine calls Ellison the frontrunner to buy AEG, with his 139 million shares of Oracle as collateral, as well as that island in Hawaii and a recently purchased home in Malibu, Calif.
 
He’s in good company with Guggenheim Partners, Thomas H. Lee Partners, Bain Capital, Colony Capital, Liberty Media and Patrick Soon-Shiong also widely reported to be interested in taking the keys at AEG.