The Indians' filing with the SEC as part of a plan for
an IPO describes a "series of transactions" that allows team
Owner Richard Jacobs to "trade part of his holdings for
cash, retain tight control of the team, and -- if he chooses
-- raise tens of million of more dollars from investors
without giving up an ounce of power," according to
Livingston & Schiller of the Cleveland PLAIN-DEALER. Days
before the filing, Jacobs and his partner, Martin Cleary,
received $49.2M from the team and Jacobs used $35.5M of it
to "repay a loan the team had given a company he controls."
After the IPO and paying back the loan, Jacobs' family
trusts will receive as much as $70M. Jacobs purchased the
team for $35M in '86. He will also control two-thirds of
the entity. The filing also "bluntly warns potential
investors that the team has limited potential for future
growth in revenues and income because much of the potential
has already been realized." Raj Aggarwal, Chair of Finance
at John Carroll Univ., said the team has "done extremely
well in the last few years. What's the potential for them
to do even better?" (Cleveland PLAIN-DEALER, 4/20).
