Early indications are that the opening round of bids to purchase the New York Mets are coming in low. That’s great news for Steve Cohen.
According to Charles Gasparino of Fox Business, the first round of bids is looking weak. Not a single bidder seems to be approaching the Wilpons asking price of $2 billion for the New York Mets.
SCOOP: 1st round bid indications for @Mets appear weak, likely below $2 billion-sources. Wilpons unlikely to sell at this stage unless something changes; bankers set July 9 for 1st round bids; hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen unlikely to participate-sources more @FoxBusiness
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) July 6, 2020
Gasparino notes that Steve Cohen isn’t likely to join in the first round of bidding, though he does say Cohen remains interested.
CLARIFICATION: Cohen unlikely to participate in FIRST ROUND; ppl close to the process believe he's still interested in buying team https://t.co/nkTWU69unN
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) July 6, 2020
It has long been reported that Cohen doesn’t plan on jumping back into the fray, but would rather play this cautiously and wait until he sees who the bidders are and what they’re bidding.
The biggest condition, however, was that nobody reached the Wilpons valuation. That way they’d have no choice but to listen to an offer form Cohen. It seems that’s the way the bidding is headed.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility that someone increases their offer to get a deal done, but it seems unlikely right now. The bidders are well aware that the Wilpons have to sell due to their financial situation. That means they can afford to low ball them as bidding starts.
According to Thorton McEnery of the New York Post, the bidders have been told that Cohen isn’t involved in the bidding process at this time. That likely emboldened the bidders to low ball the Wilpons. However, that’s opened a door for one of the most shrewd businessmen in the country.
Don’t be shocked if Cohen swoops in to purchase the team once the Wilpons get fed up with low ball offers.
