The parent company of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment or MLSE, is nearing a stake sale, according to Sportico. Larry Tanenbaum, who is the chairman of MLSE is looking to sell a portion of his 25% stake in the company to OMERS, a pension plan for Ontario municipal employees. The organisation is valued at more than $8 billion.
MLSE owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC, Toronto Argonauts, and their respective venues. The deal is not imminent, as it still has yet to be approved by the NHL or the NBA. Bell Canada and Rogers Communications own the other 75% of MLSE, and they have the right of first refusal to purchase any shares in the company.
If the deal goes through OMERS will own a slice of the Toronto sports pie. The $8 billion valuation would be the highest amount of money a North American sports entity sold for in history. Nowhere near $8 billion would actually change hands in this sale as Tanenbaum only owns a quarter of the company, or about $2 billion worth of equity. Sportico, who originally broke the story, was unclear as to what percentage of Tanenbaum’s stake he is aiming to sell.
This would be the third time in a month that an NHL team sold off a stake to outside investors. Jeff Vinik sold off a stake of the Tampa Bay Lightning at a $1.4 billion valuation to Arctos Sports Partners. The Ottawa Senators reached an agreement with Michael Andlauer to acquire the team for $950 million, more than a year after Eugene Melnyk’s death.
According to Sportico, the Raptors are valued at $3.34 billion, the Maple Leafs at $2.12 billion, and the Toronto FC at $705 million. This wouldn’t be the first time MLSE was at least partially controlled by a pension plan. The Ontario Teacher’s pension plan had a controlling stake in the company from 2003 to 2012. MLSE was sold at an enterprise value of $2.05 billion in 2012.