Opening bids were due July 9, and Steve Cohen’s is a doozy. It’s likely he’ll be the next owner of the New York Mets, but it’s not over yet.
According to Charles Gasparino of Fox Business, Steve Cohen‘s opening bid is mind-numbing. He’s offering $2 billion for the New York Mets and another $2 billion for SNY. The $4 billion offer is an obscene number that nobody could match.
BREAKING: After weeks of negotiations, hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen has told Wilpons he would pay $2 billion for @Mets & would pay $2 billion for @SNYtv. Other bids for the team so far are lower meaning he is (as reported by @FoxBusiness) the lead bid. Timing unclear
— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) July 10, 2020
However, the bidding is not yet over. The Wilpons will go back to the other highest bidders and ask them to counter. While nobody could match the sheer size of Cohen’s offer, they could beat him for the Mets alone. The idea being that another bidder, likely Harris and Blitzer, would counter at a number over $2 billion for the team.
That would allow the Wilpons to sell the team at a higher price while either holding onto SNY or selling it to the highest bidder at a later date. That would maximize the Wilpons’ profits in a way that Cohen’s $4 billion offer doesn’t.
That said, it’s unlikely Cohen losses this bid. He could easily top any offer for the Mets from any other bidder. It’s also unlikely the Wilpons would turn down an offer this size, but they have to do their due diligence. That’s especially true since they’ve been burned by Cohen before.
The Wilpons are going to want a backup plan just in case things fall through again. Despite the bad blood that destroyed a deal five months ago, it seems like Cohen is going to get this whale. If he doesn’t end up the new owner of the Mets, then it would be one of the biggest upsets in sports history at this point.
That said, nothing is done until the ink drys. Cohen isn’t the new owner yet, and anything can happen.
