Solamere Partners Said Close to Buying Piece of New York Yankees

(Bloomberg) -- Two partners at Solamere Capital LLC, the private-equity fund with ties to the Romney family, are close to completing a deal to buy 1 percent of the New York Yankees, according to people familiar with the deal. 

Managing partners Eric Scheuermann and Spencer Zwick are pursuing the piece of Major League Baseball's most valuable team, said the people, who asked not to be identified and wouldn't give a price or say who is selling the stake. The Yankees are worth about $3.7 billion, according to Forbes, about $1 billion more than the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Scheuermann, Zwick and a Yankees spokesman didn't immediately return emails seeking comment on the potential sale, which would require approval from the club and MLB. A voice mailbox at Boston-based Solamere Capital isn't accepting messages.

Solamere was started in 2008 by Scheuermann, Zwick and Tagg Romney, who separately is leading a group bidding to buy baseball's Miami Marlins. Tagg Romney's father, Mitt -- who founded Bain Capital and previously was governor of Massachusetts and the 2012 Republican nominee for president -- serves as chairman of Solamere's executive partner group.

Owners of professional sports teams may sell all or some of their shares for a variety of reasons, including estate planning. Buyers sometimes use the experience to evaluate whether they want to pursue majority control of a franchise. Controlling interest in the Yankees is owned by the Steinbrenner family, which has said it isn't interested in selling the team.

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net, Kevin Miller, Craig Trudell