DENVER — The group that owns the Padres will continue to be relatively large, and it will include some familiar names.
Among the current Padres owners that are expected to remain when control of the club transfers to billionaire Jose E. Feliciano is Mexican businessman Alfred Harp Helú, whose name is on the Mexico City stadium where the team will play two games this weekend.
Helú owns 15% of the Padres, which makes him the largest single stakeholder outside of the 24% held by Peter Seidler’s trust, of which his widow and three young children are beneficiaries.
Some members of the Seidler family are expected to retain ownership stakes as well. Those family members, as well as some others who have owned a portion of the team, are divesting a share of their stakes as part of the transaction.
The purchase of the Padres by Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, was reported Friday and is expected to officially be announced this week. Feliciano and Jones have been vetted by Major League Baseball and are expected to be approved as primary owners by the league’s other 29 owners in the coming weeks.
The couple is buying around 40% of the Padres (at an MLB-record valuation of $3.9 billion) with several other people and entities joining as part of the ownership group. That will include some current owners, a number of whom were said to be interested in staying on regardless of which billionaire bidding for the Padres ended up as the control person.
Feliciano, who made his fortune in private equity, won the bidding process over groups headed by Dan Friedkin, Tom Gores and Joe Lacob.
A 40% stake in the Padres would mean Feliciano and Jones are paying around $1.56 billion. That is close to the $1.7 billion total the Tampa Bay Rays sold for in September. The valuation of the deal also means Sheel Seidler and her children’s portion of the club is worth more than $900 million.
With Feliciano and Jones buying less than a majority of the team, there is a need for multiple other stakeholders.
According to two people familiar with the process, MLB has not been officially informed of the makeup of the entirety of the group.
Multiple people said the Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Nation, which operates Sycuan Casino Resort, is expected to hold a small stake. MLB rules do not prohibit gaming entities from owning part of a team, though league sources said a stake of more than 5% would require greater scrutiny and potential restrictions.
Sycuan, a major Padres sponsor, is said by multiple people to have been interested in joining ownership regardless of who assumed control of the team. Sycuan is part-owner of San Diego FC, the city’s Major League Soccer club.
The Padres play the Diamondbacks this weekend in Mexico City, and Helú is expected to attend. He was on hand and served as a de facto host when the Padres played there in 2023.