Owners’ Group to Meet to OK Sale of Mariners

Baseball’s ownership committee will meet at a secret location today and is expected to recommend approval of a predominantly Japanese-financed offer to buy the Seattle Mariners for slightly more than $100 million.

However, the Japanese voting power on the ballclub’s board will be less than 50%, sources confirmed Tuesday. That is intended to mollify some owners, who in December voted down a proposal to allow non-North American ownership.

The Seattle-area individuals who will contribute about $50 million to the deal reportedly will control a majority of the voting stock in the corporation.

Hiroshi Yamauchi, the president of Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, still will contribute $75 million. But he will not control 60% of the stock because his money will be used to buy preferred stock with no voting power, and to make loans to the team.