Steve Cohen's bid to buy a majority stake in the Mets has fallen through.
On Thursday night, Cohen released a statement, saying:
"I'm very disappointed we couldn't work out a deal, but as an 8% holder I'm looking forward to a higher bid for the team.
"I want to thank the fans for their support and the respect they showed me and I want to thank Commissioner Manfred and MLB for their support through the process.
"I gave it my best shot."
Soon after, Mets ownership released a statement of their own:
"The transaction between Sterling and Steve Cohen was a highly complicated one. Despite the efforts of the parties over the past several months, it became apparent that the transaction as contemplated would have been too difficult to execute.
Sterling intends now to pursue a new transaction and has engaged Allen & Company to manage that process."
On Thursday evening, MLB Network's Jon Heyman reported that "the deal is dead," while also saying that there is a belief Cohen will now "have trouble ever buying any team."
MLB - non-Mets - sources with knowledge of the Cohen negotiation said it wasn't the five-year transition of power that was at issue, SNY's Andy Martino reported Thursday, saying that part of the transaction was a done deal in writing months ago.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred addressed Cohen's bid as well on Thursday.
"There are kind of two things that are out there," Manfred said, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. "The first is that there is not going to be a transaction. My belief is that's accurate. The second is exactly what happened with respect to the transaction, and I can tell you -- and it's based on conversations with the buyer and the seller on an ongoing basis -- the assertion that the transaction fell apart because of something that the Wilpons did is completely and utterly unfair."
A report late Wednesday in the New York Times shed light on the snag the potential deal had hit. It had been reported Tuesday that Cohen was close to walking away from the table.
As he concluded his comments on Thursday, Manfred would not definitively say the deal was dead at the time, but he seemed to know the direction things were heading in.
"All I can tell you is right now, my belief is there is not going to be a transaction," Manfred added. "My soothsaying isn't great. I don't know what's going to happen. As of right now, it's my belief that the transaction is not going forward."
