Lerner named new owner of Washington Nationals

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A group led by real estate magnate
Ted Lerner is the new principal owner of the Washington
Nationals, a story posted on the baseball team’s Web site said
on Wednesday.

The naming of Lerner’s group, which includes former Atlanta
Braves President Stan Kasten, ends a protracted selection
process to find a new owner for the club.

The story said that Major League Baseball President Bob
DuPuy had confirmed the sale, with the price reportedly $450
million.

Major League Baseball, the team’s interim owner, declined
comment and said there would be a conference call at 4:45 p.m.
(2045 GMT) to make the announcement.

The Nationals moved to Washington from Montreal prior to
the 2005 season. Eight groups competed to take on the
ownership, with some Washington City Council members loudly
objecting to the Lerner bid during the selection process.

Members Vincent Orange and former Mayor Marion Barry have
said that Lerner’s group did not have enough black investors.

City officials and baseball executives spent a year
wrestling over the costs of building a new stadium for the
team, and finally signed a lease for a $611 million project in
March. They are set to break ground for construction on
Thursday.

Lerner, who primarily develops commercial real estate in
the Washington area, has sought to own a professional sports
team for decades. In the 1970s the Washington native tried to
buy the Baltimore Orioles and also offered $10 million to bring
the San Francisco Giants to the nation’s capital.

In the 1990s, he bid for the Washington Redskins football
team. His son Mark, who is part of Lerner’s bid group, is a
minority owner of the Washington Capitals hockey team.

(additional reporting by Steve Ginsburg)