Oct. 26 at 8:39 PM
$RCI , which has increased its ownership of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd.—parent of the Toronto Raptors basketball club and Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team—to 75%, is planning to trigger a legal agreement to buy the other 25% from billionaire Larry Tanenbaum’s Kilmer Group, the report said.
Once it completes buying the remaining stake by next year, Rogers would be free to combine MLSE with its other sports assets, which include Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays, one of Canada’s two major TV sports networks, and Toronto’s largest stadium and concert venues, the report said.
Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri claimed such a combination would create an entertainment empire worth more than
$14.3B.
To execute such a move, Rogers will need cash to buy out the stake from Tanenbaum, which would weigh on its balance sheet. Hence, Staffieri said his company will seek out new equity investors in the sports business—either through an IPO, a private transaction, or both.
