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Lerner named new owner of Washington Nationals

Posted on: Wednesday, 3 May 2006, 15:21 CDT

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)

Source: REUTERS

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