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TWG Global Defends Dodgers Financing, Lakers Sale

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TWG Global — the holding company of Dodgers owner Mark Walter — rejected allegations of financial impropriety in the purchase and operation of the Dodgers and reiterated the team is not for sale. At a time insurance regulators and federal investigators are looking into allegations that insurance companies under Walter’s umbrella did not properly disclose and conduct transactions between other companies he controls, and after Walter sold his controlling interest in the Lakers at a record $12.5 billion valuation, potential bidders have monitored whether the Dodgers might be sold as well.

In a statement Tuesday, TWG Global decried “multipronged attacks against TWG … by unnamed sources with self-serving interests” and said no insurance policyholder has been hurt as a result of the company’s financial transactions. “There is no victim here,” the statement said. “No one has been harmed, and no one has claimed they were harmed.”

In 2012, when Walter and his partners bought the Dodgers for $2 billion, The Times reported the use of $1.2 million from Guggenheim Partners insurance funds into the deal. At the time, rival bidders expressed concern over the unusual financing, but state insurance regulators cleared the deal and Major League Baseball approved it. The statement said the transaction was subject to a full investigation that identified no irregularities.

The statement reiterated that the Dodgers have the highest revenue in baseball and are not being sold. TWG said it is working cooperatively with the Delaware Department of Insurance and is committed to resolving inquiries from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. “TWG stands firmly behind the integrity of its business,” the statement read. “Despite what has been reported, there has been no fraud.”