Mets To Sell 10 Minority Shares In Team By End Of February

The New York Mets will sell 10 minority shares of the team by the end of February, according to Newsday.

The minority stakes, priced at $20 million each, are designed to help the club raise $200 million to pay previously established loans as well as operating expenses moving forward.  Newsday reports that the initial revenue from those sales will go toward repaying a $40 million loan from Bank of America and a $20 million loan from Major League Baseball.

The team’s financial woes stem mostly from a lawsuit against owner Fred Wilpon from the trustee in the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme. The trustee has filed a motion asking the Wilpons to repay $83 million in “fictitious profits” that the trustee believes they made from the scheme according to Newsday. The trustee is also seeking another $303 million from the Wilpons for “willful blindness.”