Palisades Arcadia Baseball has completed the purchase of the Dayton Dragons (Low Class A; Midwest League) from Mandalay Baseball Properties, with Palisades now owner and operator of the team.
The agreement has been approved by the Midwest League and the offices of Minor League Baseball, and unopposed by the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball. No terms was released; however, several sources in past weeks have indicated a sales price of $35.6 million.
As previously announced, the local management of the Dragons will continue in place. Robert Murphy, who has been the only team president for the Dragons, will continue to serve in his current role of president.
Palisades Arcadia Baseball is led by three Harvard friends and graduates, Nick Sakellariadis, Greg Rosenbaum, and Michael Savit. Sakellariadis recently retired following a 35-year investment banking career at Citigroup-related companies. Rosenbaum is president of Palisades Associates, Inc., a merchant banking and investment firm. Savit is the managing partner of the HWS Group, which over the past 16 years has owned and operated half a dozen Minor League baseball teams as well as an NBA Development League team. He is also a limited partner in the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA.
“We are thrilled with the completion of the purchase process,” said Sakellariadis. “The Dayton Dragons have proven to be one of the top performing and well-operated teams in all of baseball. We have been to Dayton many times, attended Dragons games, and toured the community. We really fell in love with the stadium, the experience, the fans, and the entire community.
“The local management team has done an exemplary job with the franchise; they know the community and they know sports entertainment,” Sakellariadis added. “We look forward to supporting the management team that has been in place for the past 16 years and assisting with the continuation of the philosophies and practices that have made the organization so successful.”
Despite what’s been reported elsewhere, final arrangements for the sale of other Mandalay Baseball Properties properties, scheduled to be completed in coming weeks, are not totally finalized. We hear an announcement of the sale of the Oklahoma City Redhawks (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) is imminent, however.
RELATED STORIES: Dayton Dragons sale announced; Greenburg, Sonju close on purchase of Frisco RoughRiders; Mandalay Baseball Properties on the block
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