Schott has until March 31
Source: Baseball gives her more time to sell
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Marge Schott
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Cincinnati Reds CEO and President Marge Schott has voluntarily extended her arrangement with Major League Baseball for three more months as she continues to try to find a buyer for the team, The Enquirerhas learned.
Two sources close to MLB said Monday Schott has asked for more time to sell her 5.5 shares, including those that give her controlling interest in the club. Managing Executive John Allen, who has run the Reds day-to-day since Schott was suspended for insensitive remarks June 12, 1996, is now in place until March 31, 1999.
Schott is extending the document she signed in October, which gave her until Dec. 31, 1998, to entertain offers to sell all but one of her 6.5 shares. If Schott hadn't agreed to the extension, she could have faced disciplinary action by Major League Baseball.
Since October, the sale process has been at a stalemate. Friends have described Schott as “a reluctant seller,” and most industry experts say her $78 million asking price is too high for a franchise valued in the $130-$160 million range.
Although some of her limited partners are skeptical that Schott is serious about the selling her shares, MLB insiders believe her interest is legitimate because she has incentive to sell. Her two controlling interests expire with the club's limited partnership on Dec. 31, 2000.
The Reds' limited partners own 58 percent of the team. They have the right to match any offer, and because the partnership ends in two years, anyone who wants to buy control beyond 2000 would have to strike a deal with the limiteds. Also, any transfer in control must be agreed to unanimously by the partners.
Among the interested suitors are believed to be Washington D.C. businessman Jon Ledecky and some Cincinnati-based entrepreneurs who are in William O. DeWitt's ownership group with the St. Louis Cardinals, among them the sons of former Reds owner William J. Williams.
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