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The Miami Marlins appear one step closer to having a new owner.
According to a report in the Miami Herald by Barry Jackson, the group led by former presidential candidate Jeb Bush and venture capitalist Wayne Rothbaum has formally ended its bid to buy the team. That leaves only two candidates left to land the Fins, one group led by Yankee legend Derek Jeter, an another fronted by local billionaire businessman Jorge Mas.
Charlie Gasparino of Fox Business Network also reported that the Rothbaum group was out, and added that neither of the remaining bids currently eclipse $1.2 billion, far short of the asking price of $1.3 billion that current owner Jeffrey Loria had hoped to get.
The Herald report went on to note that the Jeter group has added investors recently, but are still looking for a bit more money to help fund their bid.
It's quite possible the action around this deal could rapidly increase in coming days, as the MLB owners are set to meet in Chicago for their annual meeting later in August, at which they could potentially vote on the deal.
Jeter is reportedly investing $25 million of his own money in the deal, and plans to be involved in both the baseball and business aspects of the franchise should his bid eventually win out.