Sources: Goldman Sachs pulls out of Raiders deal
Investment bank Goldman Sachs has pulled out of the Raiders’ proposed bid to move to Las Vegas, sources told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, putting the team’s move to Las Vegas in jeopardy.
The news comes a day after billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson angrily withdrew from the Raiders’ stadium deal. Adelson had previously committed $650 million to get the $1.9 billion project completed but announced the removal of his stake in a statement Monday.
Goldman Sachs is re-evaluating its relationship with the Raiders’ proposed $1.9 billion Las Vegas project with billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson now out of the deal, a source said.
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The Raiders are looking to increase their stake of the $1.9 billion Las Vegas stadium proposal to $1.15 billion, which would also include accepting full operating responsibilities and risk.
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Casino magnet Sheldon Adelson has pulled his money from the Raiders stadium project. Does this stall the proposed move?
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Adelson, the CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., declared that he had been shut out of talks that led to the lease document presented to the Clark County Stadium Authority.
“We were not only excluded from the proposed agreement,” Adelson said, “we weren’t even aware of its existence.”
Adelson has a longstanding business relationship with Goldman Sachs.
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval’s office said a lease-agreement proposal submitted last week expressed that the Raiders had intended to pick up the tab for Adelson’s pulled $650 million, which would up their total commitment to $1.15 billion for a deal in which they would also accept operation responsibilities and risk.
A source told ESPN’s Darren Rovell that the Raiders’ relocation application to the NFL filed on Jan. 19 also did not include Adelson. On Jan. 12, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the Raiders had told the NFL that it had assurance from Goldman Sachs that the financial firm would continue to back the team’s relocation effort even if Adelson was out of the picture. Goldman Sachs had been in line to help underwrite Raiders owner Mark Davis’ financial commitment, but with the financial giant now out, the entire deal could be in danger, a source told Shelburne.
“If [Adelson] doesn’t think it will pencil out for him, it won’t pencil out for Goldman Sachs or anybody else that thinks they want to step up to it,” Clark County commissioner Chris Giunchigliani told the San Jose Mercury News on Monday. “I hate to say it, some of my concerns are starting to bear out. I don’t think Mr. Davis cared about either community, ours or Oakland. He’s using us against each other.”
The Las Vegas project includes a domed stadium to be built at a site yet to be decided, probably just off the Las Vegas Strip. It would seat 65,000.
In a statement Monday, the Raiders acknowledged Adelson’s involvement in the project over the past year and promised to make good on Davis’ vow to move to Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal, which is owned by the Adelson family, reported Davis had been in Adelson’s office “negotiating with the family” even as Raiders president Marc Badain and executive vice president Dan Ventrelle were making a presentation to the authority board on the proposed lease agreement Thursday.
Any relocation to Las Vegas must be approved by 24 of the 32 NFL team owners. A vote is expected during league meetings in March in Phoenix.
Information from ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez and The Associated Press was used in this report.
