By Tripp Mickle, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal
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TowerBrook Capital Partners, a N.Y.-based private equity firm, is looking to sell its stake in the Blues. TowerBrook owns the team with Dave Checketts' firm SCP Worldwide and local businessman Tom Stillman. SCP Worldwide, which is the Blues' managing partner, has hired Citibank to assist in finding investors to take over TowerBrook's share of the team. TowerBrook is the Blues' largest shareholder. TowerBrook and SCP bought the team in ‘06 for $150M. Citi was the primary lender on a $120M loan in the deal. Checketts recently put together a group of investors to purchase the Rams, and it is possible that he will turn to some of those investors to see if they are interested in buying into the Blues. In a statement released today, Checketts said, "We knew at the outset that our private equity partners at TowerBrook had defined investment and operational objectives, which have now been reached. Therefore, we at SCP have retained the sports agency group at Citibank to help us find new investment partners to join us and Tom Stillman as we continue to remain committed to the City of St. Louis and the St. Louis Blues organization.” In a statement, TowerBrook said, “Dave Checketts and SCP Worldwide have done a remarkable job of restoring the pride and passion of the St. Louis Blues. We joined this investment group because of the many past investment successes we have had with Dave. We knew that he, along with his partners, would help revive this franchise and they have delivered since day one. It now sits on a very solid foundation, one that we have been very proud to help rebuild.” TowerBrook has approximately $5B under management. It is not invested in any of SCP or the firm's other sports businesses, such as MLS Real Salt Lake. TowerBrook was the only private equity firm to own a share in a professional sports team. Private equity firms typically look for short-term investments in businesses that they can improve financially and then sell for a big profit. That has long been considered a challenge in pro sports, where the leagues maintain regulatory control over team operations.
