The sale of a 90% share in the Blue Jays by Belgian- brewer
Interbrew SA to a consortium headed by Toronto-based real-estate
developer Murray Frum is "close to completion" and requires only
MLB approval, according to Robert MacLeod of the Toronto GLOBE &
MAIL. The deal, which also would include the CFL Argonauts and
49% of SkyDome, is believed to be worth about C$230M. While
MacLeod reports the sale could be done "as early as next week," a
source close to the talks said it could "easily drag on longer
because [MLB] has asked for more information." The unnamed
source: "It's moving along nicely, but there were still a couple
of things that they're [MLB] reviewing" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL,
10/25).
DETAILS: Theatre producer David Mirvish and former CBC exec
and current TVOntario Chair Peter Herrndorf are also part of
Frum's ownership group. A source, cited by MacLeod as a
"prominent Toronto business person who has inside information
pertaining to the transaction," said a "substantial amount of the
money is [also] coming out of the U.S. from California." The
source added, however, that the deal gives MLB and Interbrew the
"strong Canadian ownership element they were looking for."
Interbrew obtained 90% ownership of the Jays (Canadian Imperial
Bank of Commerce owns 10%) and all of the Argos and a 42% share
of SkyDome when it purchased Labatt Brewing for C$3.7B in '95.
According to the source, as part of the transaction, Interbrew
has agreed to purchase the 7% stake that Sun Media Corp. has in
SkyDome and then sell that to the Frum group as well. Sun Media
paid C$5M for the 7% stake (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 10/25). Sun
Media Corp. President Paul Godfrey said the sale of their stake
was part of firm restructuring after a C$422M conversion of
Toronto Sun Publishing Corp. to a privately held company left the
new company with C$250M in long-term debt (Terri Williams,
TORONTO SUN, 10/25).
