By Ryan Mac, Forbes Staff

Billionaire Philip Anschutz has taken his eponymous media, real estate and sports empire off the auction block. The CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, Tim Leiweke, will also be leaving the company. The Anschutz Entertainment Group announced Thursday that Chairman Anschutz would retain ownership of the company and “resume a more active role,” according to a press release. That decision ends months of speculation surrounding the possible sale of a conglomerate valued by FORBES to be worth between $8 and $10 billion. Anschutz has been looking for a buyer since last fall and hired the Blackstone Group–the same firm that handled the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers–to explore the sale. While there were plenty of reports linking AEG to possible suitors, among them billionaires Patrick Soon-Shiong and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, a deal never materialized. “From the very beginning of the sales process, we have made it clear to our employees and partners throughout the world that unless the right buyer came forward with a transaction on acceptable terms we would not sell the Company,” said Anschutz in a statement. An enterprise that lacks comparison, AEG owns some of the world’s largest entertainment venues, including Los Angeles‘ Staples Center and London’s O2 Arena, and maintains stakes in sports teams, among them a 27% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers and full ownership of the Los Angeles Galaxy. The company is also heavily involved in real estate development  and sports and entertainment ticketing. According to sources close to the company, AEG generates annual operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) in excess of $300 million and has less than 20% debt on its balance sheet. Anschutz’s decision to keep AEG comes in light of more setbacks to the company’s planned National Football League stadium in Los Angeles. Last week, Yahoo! Sports reported that the $1.8 billion plan to build a football venue in the heart of L.A. was “unworkable,” according to sources sources within the NFL. Los Angeles, the nation’s second most populous city, currently lacks a professional football team. The stadium issues and the failure to find a buyer for AEG has also led to a shakeup within the company. AEG CEO Time Leiweke, who has served in that position since 1996, will leave the company “by mutual agreement,” according to the press release, and will be replaced by former COO and CFO Dan Beckerman. “Priority projects going forward include the development of Farmers Field adjacent to our L.A. Live campus and the pursuit of our plan to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles,” said Beckerman in a statement. Additional reporting by Brian Solomon and Mike Ozanian in New York.  Follow me on Twitter at @RMac18. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest