Thursday, April 22, 1999
Stadium dealings unaffected by sale
County: Lindner may help speed up Reds agreement
BY SCOTT MacGREGOR and DAN KLEPAL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The official sale of the Reds means nothing to the fate of their new $297 million stadium, team and county officials said Wednesday.
Reds managing executive John Allen and Hamilton County Administrator David Krings said the ongoing lease negotiations won't be affected by the transfer of the Reds' majority ownership from Marge Schott to a group of limited partners headed by Carl Lindner.
Lindner, Bill Reik and George Strike signed an agreement Tuesday to purchase 5.5 of Schott's 6.5 shares in the Reds for $67 million.
“It should have no impact whatsoever,” said Allen, who remains in charge of the Reds until the sale is approved by baseball owners at their meetings June 9-10 and who probably will stay on after the team changes hands. “They've been kept abreast of what's going on.”
“Especially with the limited partners,” Krings said. “They know what we've been negotiating all along. Their purchase should be based on the memorandum of understanding we've already agreed to, and they should be up to speed on the subsequent discussions.”
County lawyers specifically wanted Schott to sign the memorandum of understanding earlier this year to make sure the majority owner was a part of the process.
Hamilton County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus said Lindner's ownership may lead to a faster final agreement. He said approval of Lindner by a majority of Major League Baseball owners should be a formality.
“The reason we wanted Schott's signature is because ownership was up in the air,” Bedinghaus said. “Ownership is clearly spelled out now.”
Allen said the sale won't delay the negotiations. Last week, Krings said the opening of the stadium could be stalled past the start of the 2003 season if the Reds didn't sign a lease soon.
“We'd like to get it done sooner rather than later, but Major League Baseball has the lease to review it,” Allen said. “We can't sign it until they review it, so we're in that process.”
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