San Francisco Giants Sells Stake to Private Equity Firm Sixth Street

Private equity likes the long ball The San Francisco Giants, one of Major League Baseball’s most successful franchises, have sold about 10 percent of the team to the private equity group Sixth Street, Ken Belson and Lauren Hirsch are first to report.The team will use the cash to help pay for upgrades to the franchise’s 25-year-old stadium and other facilities, as well as the Mission Rock real estate development adjacent to the ballpark.Details of the purchase, which was approved by Major League Baseball Monday, were not disclosed.But the team was last valued at $3.8 billion by Forbes.

The Giants are owned by a syndicate of 35 owners, led by Greg Johnson.Private equity has been making bolder investments in sports teams and properties.Live sports is one of the few products still attracting big audiences, driving up the valuations of teams out of reach of many individual investors.

This has led all of the top pro leagues to invite big funds to invest in teams.Baseball was the first major league in North America to welcome major funds.Now, more than half of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams, including the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs, have relationships with private equity groups.Arctos, another private equity firm, owns about 2 percent of the Giants, as well as stakes in the Houston Astros, the San Diego Padres and other teams.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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