Sources: Silver Lake Seeks "Big Stake" In Knicks, Rangers

Investment firm Silver Lake Partners is "angling to buy a big stake" in the Knicks and NHL Rangers "before they're spun off into a publicly traded company," according to sources cited by Josh Kosman of the N.Y. POST. Silver Lake owns close to 10% of the teams' parent company, MSG, making it the "largest outside investor in the entertainment conglomerate" controlled by James Dolan. Sources said that Silver Lake "wants more, but only when it comes to the sports teams." One source said that Silver Lake has "approached MSG with multiple plans to take a bigger stake" in the sports franchises, with one proposal "resulting in a private sale to Silver Lake at the time of the spinout." Dolan will continue controlling the Knicks and Rangers even as MSG "spins off about two-thirds of the value of the teams" to current MSG shareholders. Nevertheless, MSG has said that it is "open to selling some of the one-third stake it plans to retain" in order to "invest the proceeds in its remaining businesses" (N.Y. POST, 11/4).