Palisades Arcadia to acquire Dayton Dragons
DAYTON, Ohio -- Palisades Arcadia Baseball LLC has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase the Dayton Dragons franchise -- the Class A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds -- from Mandalay Baseball Properties LLC. The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including the approvals of the Midwest League, the offices of Minor League Baseball, and the review of the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball.
Palisades Arcadia Baseball is led by three Harvard friends and graduates, Nick Sakellariadis, Greg Rosenbaum, and Michael Savit.
Sakellariadis recently retired following a 35-year investment banking career at Citigroup-related companies.
Rosenbaum is President of Palisades Associates, Inc., a merchant banking and investment firm.
Savit is the Managing Partner of the HWS Group, which over the past 16 years has owned and operated half a dozen Minor League baseball teams as well as an NBA Development League team. He is also a limited partner in the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA.
Palisades Arcadia Baseball is thrilled that the local management of the team will continue in place. Robert Murphy -- who has been the only team president for the Dragons -- will continue to serve in his current role of president. "We are very pleased and excited to have secured Robert Murphy and his team to continue on in their roles with the Dayton Dragons," noted Sakellariadis. "Bob has been the face of the organization for the past 16 years, and that will continue. Obviously, the local management team has done an exemplary job with the franchise and we are confident in their continued managerial success."
Mandalay Baseball has been the principal owner and operator of the Dayton franchise since its inception and has operated the team for almost 16 years (one construction year, and 15 baseball seasons). "We're delighted to have reached an agreement with Palisades Arcadia Baseball," said Art Matin, CEO of Mandalay Baseball. "We are tremendously pleased with what has been accomplished in Dayton and at Fifth Third Field, and with our stewardship of the franchise for the Dayton community."
"We are very happy that Palisades Arcadia Baseball has been successful in their bid to buy the Dayton Dragons," noted Dragons team president, Robert Murphy. "They have a great passion for baseball and business, and they love how our community has embraced the Dragons and they understand the important responsibility of being the stewards of this community asset."
All terms of the agreement are confidential.
Game Plan LLC has served as Mandalay's exclusive financial advisor on this transaction and on the sales of Mandalay's other franchises, including the recently announced pending sale of the Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League to a group led by former Texas Rangers CEO, Chuck Greenberg. The Sports Advisory Group / W.B. Grimes & Company served as the exclusive financial advisor to Palisades Arcadia Baseball.
About the Dragons
The Dayton Dragons are the Single-A Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and play their games at Fifth Third Field in downtown Dayton, Ohio. The team was founded in 2000 and has finished first among all Single-A minor league teams in attendance each season from 2000 to present; as well as finishing in the top 10 in attendance each and every season (out of 160 Minor League Baseball teams). The Dragons have set the all-time consecutive sell-out streak mark having completed their 1,017th consecutive sell-out on Sunday, June 15th.
More than 66 Dragons have gone on to play in Major League Baseball, including Joey Votto, Homer Bailey, Adam Dunn, Todd Frazier, Austin Kearns, Billy Hamilton, and Jay Bruce. For more information on the Dayton Dragons please contact the Dragons at (937) 228-2287 or via e-mail at [email protected].
Palisades Arcadia Ownership Bios
Nick Sakellariadis
Mr. Sakellariadis recently retired following a 35-year investment banking career at Citigroup-related companies. Mr. Sakellariadis served in various investment banking capacities at Citigroup companies including as Managing Director in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group, and as head of the Financial Restructuring Group, and as a member of the Advisory Committee, which reviewed and approved all fairness and valuation opinions rendered by the firm. He served as an advisor in transactions totaling in excess of $200 billion. Mr. Sakellariadis covered the Automotive, Homebuilding and Building Products sectors, as well as other industrial companies.
Mr. Sakellariadis graduated from Harvard College, magna cum laude in 1973, and received an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School, and a J.D. degree from the Harvard Law School. He was a Fulbright/ITT Scholar in 1973-1974.
Mr. Sakellariadis is a former co-chairman of the Harvard College Fund, Fundraising Co-Chairman of the Harvard College Class of 1973, Fundraising Co-Chairman (along with Greg Rosenbaum) of the Harvard Law School Class of 1977, Advisory Trustee of the New York Botanical Garden, Trustee and Treasurer of the U.S. Board of Athens College, Advisory Trustee of Phoenix Country Day School, 24-year member of the Parish Council and former President of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in New York City, and a member of four national Greek Church and cultural organizations. He is a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Greg Rosenbaum
Mr. Rosenbaum is President of Palisades Associates, Inc., a merchant banking and investment firm. Palisades generally acts as a principal or deal sponsor, where the firm's combination of strategic skills and transaction experience offers the potential for high returns on investment.
Mr. Rosenbaum began his business career in 1978 at The Boston Consulting Group. In 1982, he was named a Vice President of The Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corporation, a private investment firm that pioneered leveraged buyouts. In 1987, Mr. Rosenbaum was one of the founding Managing Directors of The Carlyle Group. In 1989, he founded Palisades Associates, Inc.
A Toledo native and 1970 Ohio High School State Debating Champion, Mr. Rosenbaum received an A.B. in Government from Harvard College, magna cum laude, in 1974 and jointly earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he won the Ames Moot Court Competition and an M.P.P. from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1978. While pursuing his graduate studies, Mr. Rosenbaum served as Coach of Debating at Harvard and as a Teaching Fellow in Government and Social Sciences. He is admitted to the active practice of law in Ohio and Illinois and before the Supreme Court of the United States, and is a member of the American Bar Association's Sections on Antitrust Law and Business Law.
Mr. Rosenbaum has served on numerous boards of directors, both for-profit and not-for-profit, public as well as private. In 2011, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty named Mr. Rosenbaum the Humanitarian of the Year. He is a Trustee of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Foundation. In March, 2013, Mr. Rosenbaum was appointed by President Obama to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.
Michael Savit
Mr. Savit is the Managing Partner of the HWS Group, which over the past 16 years has owned and operated half a dozen Minor League baseball teams as well as an NBA Development League team in Springfield, MA. Mr. Savit is also a limited partner in the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA.
Prior to the formation of the HWS Group, Mr. Savit worked for 16 years for the Cleveland-based International Management Group (IMG), specializing in event management. In 1997, he and his brother, Jeffrey, founded the HWS Group, headquartered in Wellesley, MA, in honor of their late father, Herbert W. Savit.
The first two teams with which he was involved were the Augusta GreenJackets of the South Atlantic League (1998-2005) and the Michigan BattleCats of the Midwest League (2000-2001). Along with another team HWS Group purchased, the Columbia Blowfish of the Coastal Plain (collegiate) League (2006-2013), those teams have since been sold.
Currently Mr. Savit serves as Managing Partner of the Mobile BayBears of the Southern League (2003-present), the Modesto Nuts of the California League (2005-present) and the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the New York-Penn League (2007-present).
Mr. Savit received an A.B. degree in Government from Harvard College in 1978, where he served as Sports Editor of the Harvard Crimson.
He is currently involved in numerous philanthropic endeavors in the Boston area, including the HWS Golf Classic, which since 2002 has raised money for the Herbert W. Savit Research Fund at the Miriam Hospital in Providence, RI, dedicated to focused research in myeloid diseases.