Molson Coors is selling its 14.5% stake in the Rockies to Arizona developer Jay Stein, "ending the equity ownership the brewer has held in the club since the team's inception" in '91, according to Daniel Kaplan of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Molson Coors said that the sale "does not affect its long-standing naming-rights deal" for Coors Field. The company said they are selling the stake in the team "so that we can focus our resources more fully on building our global beer business." Sources said that the move comes as the Denver Post has taken its 7.3% share of the team "off the market, in part because ... it felt Coors is not getting full value for its stake." Stein, who serves as President of Scottsdale-based Sandor Development, was part of former Padres Vice Chair Jeff Moorad's ownership group. Sources "pegged the Rockies' full franchise value" around $600M, so Molson Coors' stake in the team would have been valued at $75.4M after $80M in debts were settled. Coors "played an integral role in investing in the Rockies expansion franchise and has been closely linked ever since Coors merged with Molson" in '05 (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 11/25 issue).
