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Interesting
Bidder for Share of Mets Sheds Light on the Process
By DAVID WALDSTEIN
Published: June 16, 2011
On Friday, May 20, just six days before the Mets disclosed they had come to an agreement with David Einhorn to buy part of the team, Ray Bartoszek’s accountant received a call from Terry Morris at Allen & Company, the firm retained by the Mets to facilitate the sale.
Bartoszek, a wealthy oil trader and passionate Mets fan from Pelham, N.Y., had already made a bid that clearly grabbed the Mets’ attention, and they were coming back with a counteroffer. It was not readily acceptable, but it contained elements that made it worth considering. Bartoszek would think it over with his people and get back to the Mets.
The next time Bartoszek heard from anyone in the process was the following Wednesday, when Morris and Steve Greenberg, the point man in the sale, told him they had come to an agreement with someone else.
“They said I came in second place,” Bartoszek recalled. “I guess I was the bridesmaid, for whatever good that does. “
Three weeks have passed since the Mets chose Einhorn in a process that was veiled in secrecy from the January day the Mets announced they had to sell part of the team to address financial pressures. Bartoszek’s experience, which he described as positive throughout, provides insight into what occurred.
The 46-year-old Bartoszek, who made his fortune trading oil for Glencore International, remembered staying up late in 1979 to watch the Mets’ only All-Star, Lee Mazzilli, hit a home run in his one at-bat in the game. A few years later, he became the starting second baseman for the United States Merchant Marine Academy’s varsity baseball team.
Now retired and serving as a consultant for Glencore as well as a shortstop for his Greenwich, Conn., softball team, Bartoszek heard about the Mets’ interest in finding a minority partner during a vacation overseas.
When he returned, he called Allen & Company and told the firm he was a worthy candidate. After some quick research into his background, Bartoszek was moved to the next step: he was vetted and cleared by Major League Baseball.
During this stage, Allen & Company was dividing the proposed bidders into three categories. The lowest ranking included people who seemed more interested in publicity than in owning a share of the Mets. The second group included wealthy Mets fans who might be willing to invest $5 million to $10 million and who could conceivably be grouped into a conglomerate.
The primary group included men like Bartoszek, Einhorn and Steve Cohen, all from the financial world and all able to do the deal by themselves, or by leading small groups. The Mets insisted the bids be for at least $200 million for a minority share.
Bartoszek would not divulge the details of his bid, which was formally submitted in writing April 1, but confirmed it sought a 10 percent share of SNY, the Mets’ profitable television network. Like Einhorn’s bid, it contained a path to majority ownership, which he felt was a distinct possibility.
“You never know,” he said. “I really got along well with the Wilpons and felt we could be great partners. But things change in life. Sure, it was a possibility.”
After the Mets reviewed his bid, Bartoszek, who had taken on the investor Anthony Lanza as a partner, was invited to meet with Fred Wilpon, the Mets’ principal owner.
The meeting went well, and in the first week of May Bartoszek was invited back to Citi Field, this time for a full-day session with the Mets’ top officials. He met with Wilpon; Sandy Alderson, the general manager; Dave Howard, the vice president of business affairs; and Jeff Wilpon, Fred Wilpon’s son and the chief operating officer of the team.
For weeks after the meeting, Bartoszek did not hear a word, until May 20, when his accountant relayed the Mets’ counterproposal. It included the share of SNY that Bartoszek sought, but other issues remained.
“We were still pretty far off,” Bartoszek said. “But we thought the fact that SNY got to the table was a really good sign.”
On the following Monday, Bartoszek was named in a story in The New York Post saying the Mets had chosen him as their new partner. Bartoszek became excited, only to find out two days later that the chosen one was Einhorn.
Bartoszek said that, over all, he was satisfied with the process. He also praised Einhorn, saying he was beaten out in a fair competition.
Naturally, he thinks his offer was strong and fair, and says the only information he has about the Einhorn agreement is what he has read in published reports — that Einhorn is giving the Mets $200 million for a minority share below 35 percent, which would increase to 60 percent if the Wilpons continue to suffer financially and cannot pay back the $200 million back within several years.
“Einhorn is a very successful guy and it seems to me that he must be smarter than all the rest of us because he figured out how to basically short this team as he’s shorted a lot of stocks in the past,” Bartoszek said.
“I wouldn’t bet against him,” he added. “It’s just that I feel like it’s awkward, a trader taking on a position where he is rooting for the team to fail? I don’t like that. I would not do that deal because I would not feel right about having that attitude every day I went to work.”
Despite the disappointment, Bartoszek is rooting hard for the Mets. He loves how they are playing now, clawing back to .500 on Wednesday at Atlanta despite numerous injuries. And he is enamored with the play of Jose Reyes.
So much so that, if his bid had won, Bartoszek said, he would have worked hard to make Reyes the Mets’ shortstop forever.
“I’ve got to say yes to that,” he said, laughing. “The guy is amazing, isn’t he?”
Almost wistfully, he said he wished he could have been part of Mets ownership a year ago.
“It’s Monday morning quarterback, but I would like to say I would have done whatever it would have taken last year to pay Reyes,” he said. “But I can’t say I’m that smart.” |
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