Sale of Washington baseball team gets antitrust OK
May 30, 2006
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. antitrust authorities said on
Tuesday they approved the sale of the Washington Nationals
professional baseball franchise to a group led by real estate
developer Theodore Lerner.
Officials completed their investigation of the deal without
taking any action, the Federal Trade Commission said in a
notice.
The Lerner group won the bidding on May 3 to buy the former
Montreal Expos from Major League Baseball for $450 million.
The franchise was moved to Washington, D.C., before the
2005 season, following years of dwindling attendance and heavy
losses in Montreal. Washington officials have approved a new
publicly financed $611 million stadium, set to open in April
2008.
Source: reuters