PEORIA, Ariz. — The Padres have narrowed the field to four groups of prospective buyers as the process moves toward a sale that could be completed by April.
It was at the end of February that the Seidler family accepted bids from five suitors. One of those groups is no longer in the running, a source said Friday.
All four of the remaining groups spent time at the team’s complex here this week.
The identities of the four remaining potential buyers are not known.
Three of the five suitors were identified by various sources in February as groups headed by Jose E. Feliciano, Dan Friedkin and Joe Lacob. All three have significant ownership stakes in other sports franchises.
Feliciano is co-founder of Clearlake Capital, a private equity firm that manages $90 billion in investments, and is the principal owner of the Premier League’s Chelsea FC.
Friedkin is CEO of The Friedkin Group, a consortium of businesses that includes auto dealerships and hotels, and he owns Roma of Serie A and Everton of the Premier League.
Lacob was a partner in the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins and is the principal owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
It is not known if all three remain in the running to buy the Padres.
From the start, league sources familiar with the recent MLB team sales said the Padres would sell for more than $2.5 billion and could top $3 billion. Estimates now that the bid process is underway are that the team will sell for well north of $3 billion, breaking the record of $2.4 billion Steve Cohen paid for the New York Mets in 2020.