Twins Call Off Sale, Bring in Two New Minority Owners

The Pohlad family said Wednesday that it has decided to take the Twins off the market and instead sell significant minority stakes to two groups, following a roughly 10-month sale exploration process. The stakes are “substantial” and the deal is intended to help the Twins pay down debt, Front Office Sports has learned.

The news was shared by the team itself, via a statement from the Pohlad family outlining that a “wide range of potential investment and ownership opportunities” were considered in the time since the team hired Allen & Company to explore a sale. 

“After a detailed and robust process, our family will remain the principal owner of the Minnesota Twins,” the statement says. 

Financial details of the stake sales were not disclosed, nor were the size of the stakes or the buyers’ identities. A source familiar with the matter tells FOS the stakes will be “substantial” and that the valuation of the Twins in the stake sales is in line with what the Pohlads had been seeking (the reported asking price was $1.7 billion). Additionally, the source says one of the buying groups is based in Minnesota, the other is based out of New York, and their identities will likely become known in a matter of weeks.

Each group will get a seat on the team’s board of directors, giving them input into all business and operational matters, the source says, although under the deal the new minority owners will not have a path to becoming controlling owners. “They are strictly partners,” the source says. 

The news came as a shock, although it’s actually in line with a recent FOS report that there could be news on the sale process “within a matter of weeks,” as well as comments made by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred during the All-Star break in Atlanta—“I know some things that you don’t know,” Manfred said. “I can tell you with a lot of confidence that there will be a transaction there, and it will be consistent with the kind of pricing that has taken place.”

According to the source, there were proposals “throughout the process,” but in the end the Pohlads determined the sale of two minority stakes was in the best interests of both the family and the team. Among the benefits is that the new partners will provide capital the Twins can use to pay down substantial debt; the team reportedly has more than $425 million in debt, which has led to speculation about money troubles. MLB has debt service rules on its books meant to ensure teams maintain fiscal stability, but the league has not stepped in to offer emergency financial assistance to the Twins.

The Twins, who at 56–63 sit in second-to-last place in the American League Central, are coming off a fire sale that saw the team trade eight players on the day of the trade deadline, including star closer Jhoan Duran and shortstop Carlos Correa.

The Pohlads bought the Twins for $44 million in 1984. The patriarch, Carl Pohlad, died in 2009, at which point his son Jim took over the team. In 2022, Jim’s nephew Joe Pohlad assumed primary administrative duties, while Jim remained the controlling owner.