Ovitz Investor Tries for Redskins

Wall Street investor Ted Forstmann, until Tuesday one of Michael Ovitz’s partners to bring football back to Los Angeles, is now reportedly one of 10 bidders trying to purchase the Washington Redskins.

Although Ovitz has yet to define the financial contributions of his 10-man ownership team, it has been believed from the outset that Forstmann, an acknowledged billionaire, would be one of the major players in financing a proposed $350-million stadium for Carson.

Ovitz, who is preparing detailed documents to deliver to NFL owners at a special meeting on expansion in Dallas on Feb. 16, said he is aware of Forstmann’s interest in football, but unaware of any bid for the Redskins.

“It doesn’t really affect our situation,” Ovitz said, “because he was not one of our main investors, and with 10 equity interests, if necessary, one can be replaced real easily.”

Trustees for the estate of Jack Kent Cooke put the Redskins and their 80,116-seat stadium up for sale Sept. 9, and the deadline for preliminary bids was Monday. The group intends to narrow its list to five in the next few days.

“I can’t say a peep about it,” Forstmann told the Washington Post after the newspaper reported he had made a bid.

Cooke’s son, John, also submitted a bid for the team and stadium, which is expected to draw as much as $600 million, along with New York real estate investor Howard Milstein, who is teamed with Maryland businessman Daniel M. Snyder of Snyder Communications. Milstein was one of the finalists in the bid to buy the new Cleveland Browns’ franchise.

Baltimore Oriole majority partner Peter G. Angelos, and Fort Worth investor David Bonderman, who is teamed with Washington real estate developer Ted Lerner and his son, Mark, are also in contention.

Forstmann, 58, founded the buyout firm of Forstmann Little in 1978 and is well known on Wall Street as a savvy investor, according to the Post. He is also known for the role he played in “Barbarians at the Gate,” the book that described the bidding for RJR Nabisco Inc.

“Teddy has been a friend for a long time,” Ovitz said. “He was included in our ownership team as a courtesy, and we’re moving ahead as convinced as ever that in the end we will bring football back to the Los Angeles area.”

Ovitz said if Forstmann fails in his bid to buy the Redskins, Forstmann will still be included on his ownership team.