Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Completion of Cubs sale could drag on past May

By Ben Klayman

CHICAGO, April 13 (Reuters) - The sale of the Chicago Cubs baseball team could drag on past May as the Ricketts family arranges financing for its $900 million bid and works for Major League Baseball's approval.

Officials with Tribune Co, which is selling the team, its storied home park of Wrigley Field and a 25 percent stake in a local sports TV network, had originally hoped to have the deal done in May.

"They are being optimistic, frankly, despite good intentions all the way around," said a person with knowledge of the sale who was not authorized to speak on the matter.

Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney declined to speculate on when a sale might be completed. The Cubs were scheduled to play their first home game on Monday against the Colorado Rockies.

But others were more optimistic about the timetable.

"I still think we're going to get it done in May. I don't see why we're not," said a second source familiar with the sales process who asked not to be identified.

Tom Ricketts, the Chicago-based chief executive of Incapital LLC and the son of the founder of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp (AMTD.O: Quote, Profile, Research), is leading his family's bid for the Cubs.

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