The Milwaukee Brewers are in discussions to sell a controlling share of the Wilson Warbirds organization to longtime Brewers investor John A. Canning Jr. and his family.

The transaction, which is still under negotiation, must be approved by Major League Baseball. The Brewers will retain a minority ownership stake of the franchise. As policy, MLB maintains privacy in transaction details and the exact percentage of ownership stake.

“On behalf of my entire family, we are not only excited about the opportunity to invest in the Wilson Warbirds but also keenly aware of and energized by the broader renaissance taking place in the Wilson community — particularly downtown,” Canning said in a news release. “Beyond baseball, we are interested in exploring ways to be meaningfully involved in that continued growth.”

Canning, founder of the Chicago-based private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners, holds one of the largest ownership stakes among the Major League franchise’s investors. According to the release, Canning has been a significant member of the Brewers ownership group since the mid-1990s. Canning expressed “strong interest” in purchasing a majority stake in the Warbirds.

According to the news release, if completed, the sale would represent a “nearly seamless ownership transition.”

‘THIS CHANGES NOTHING’

Wilson City Manager Rodger Lentz said city staff showed the Canning family around Wilson and discussed opportunities within the community. He said he was “very excited about what these folks bring to the table.” According to the release, the Canning family is “deeply civic-minded and has a strong history of community engagement and long-term investment.”

“We’re excited they are showing interest in the community,” Lentz said. “This appears it won’t just be a baseball investment. They’re interested in finding other ways to get involved in the downtown renaissance. That would be a great addition to Wilson — the more, the merrier.”

The Canning family would add additional management roles to the Warbirds organization, while empowering Warbirds President Joe Ricciutti and the existing staff to manage day-to-day operations. Senior executives from the Brewers organization will remain involved with the team through board-level positions.

Rick Schlesinger, president of business operations for the Milwaukee Brewers, currently serves on the Barton College Board of Trustees and will continue to serve in that role under the new proposed ownership structure.

Lentz told the Times that the most important part of the sale is that the Brewers will retain minority ownership of the team.

“That gives me comfort,” he said. “We don’t lose our ties to the Milwaukee Brewers. The folks we work with one a day-to-day basis as still involved. This changes nothing about the city’s relationship with the team. The people we deal with, none of that changes. We feel very good about that.”

On Thursday, Wilson City Council members voted to adopt a new guarantee on the downtown stadium’s 25-year lease. Lentz said the only change from the city’s perspective is that the base rental agreement of about $8,233,000 over the 25-year lease will now be guaranteed by the Canning family, not the Brewers organization.

The change in ownership stake will not effect the team’s affiliation or classification. The Warbirds will play their inaugural season in Wilson as the Single-A affiliate of the Brewers and will continue their affiliation with the Major League team into the foreseeable future.

The ribbon-cutting for the new stadium is at 10 a.m. Saturday. The team’s first home game is April 14.

PRIVATE EQUITY AND MINOR LEAGUE

Lentz told the Times that prior Canning inquiring about the team, the Brewers organization gave “no indication” that the team was for sale.

“That wasn’t in the picture,” Lentz said. “Mr. Canning has been a longtime minority owner of the (Brewers) team. There are deep ties to the Brewers with this sale. They (the Brewers organization) wouldn’t have been interested in this unless it was a situation like Mr. Canning brings.”

According to a December article from Front Office Sports, more than 43% of MiLB’s 120 franchises have private-equity ties in ownership. Diamond Baseball Holdings, a sports ownership group, owns 48 MiLB franchises by itself. Those 48 franchises include the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the Brewers’ High-A affiliate team.

According to Front Office Sports, no MiLB deal has been confirmed to reach $100 million, but the Sacramento River Cats, the San Fransisco Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, sold for $90 million in 2022 and the Worcester Red Rox, the Boston Red Sox’s Triple-A affiliate, sold for an estimated $70 million in 2023.

The Warbirds franchise, in its history as the Carolina Mudcats, has undergone just one ownership change. Steve Bryant owned the franchise when it was relocated to Zebulon from Columbus, Georgia, in 1990. According to MiLB, Bryant sold his full ownership stake to the Brewers on Oct. 3, 2017. The sale price was not disclosed.