Tribune trims list of Cubs bidders: sources

By Ben Klayman

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Tribune Co on Wednesday narrowed the potential list of bidders for the storied Chicago Cubs baseball team to 3-5 groups bidding $1 billion or more, according to sources briefed on the matter.

Of the 10 groups approved to bid for the Cubs by Major League Baseball, only those that bid $1 billion or more for the team, its home ballpark Wrigley Field and a stake in a regional sports TV network advanced to the next round, said two sources, who asked not to be identified because the process is ongoing.

While Tribune and baseball officials declined to comment, three sources said Internet billionaire Mark Cuban, owner of the National Basketball Association Dallas Mavericks; and a publicly held group led by New York City taxi tycoon Andrew Murstein were among those advancing.

Others advancing included Tom Ricketts, chief executive of Incapital LLC, a Chicago securities and investment banking firm, and son of the founder of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp; and a group headed by Michael Tokarz, chairman of MVC Capital Inc, one of the sources said. The Tokarz group includes Fred Malek, who previously bid on the baseball team in Washington.

Murstein's group, Sports Properties Acquisition Corp, also is teaming up with another of the approved bidder groups, according to one of the sources, who declined to identify the group.

Among those eliminated was John Canning Jr., chairman of Chicago private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners, one of the sources said. He was an early favorite to win the bidding because of his close ties to baseball commissioner Bud Selig.

Canning declined to comment.

Don Levin, owner of the Chicago Wolves minor league hockey team, also confirmed he had been eliminated from the process after bidding under $1 billion.  Continued...