O.C. Magnate Shaping Offer to Buy Rams

Although Rams owner Georgia Frontiere says the team is not for sale, an Anaheim waste disposal magnate has a plan that would put 92% of the team in the hands of public stockholders and a local group of investors by 1996.

“I’m putting together a group because I want to buy this team,” said William C. Taormina, chairman of Taormina Industries Inc., which controls the disposal contracts for five north Orange County cities. “The essence of the purchase proposal will feature a unique opportunity for the Rams fans to become owners of the team.”

Taormina’s proposal comes just days after Rams President John Shaw said Frontiere has no interest in divvying up the team she inherited from her husband in 1979.

Shaw faxed a letter to The Times Thursday saying Frontiere “has repeatedly stated that the Rams are not for sale” after a story detailed how a group was rounding up investors to buy up to a 40% interest in the team.

That statement contradicted Frontiere’s comments to The Times in May that she was open to selling a non-controlling interest in her team if it figured in a deal to keep the Rams in Anaheim.

Taormina, 43, and other members of Save the Rams, a group of businessmen and politicians working to keep the team in town, said Shaw’s comments may be simply his way of bargaining for the best deal.

On Tuesday, a Rams spokeswoman said Shaw conceded that Frontiere, 66, would consider selling part of the team if it “makes sense for a lot of other reasons.”

“They would consider a minority investment,” said Heidi Sinclair, senior vice president of Burston-Marsteller, a firm recently hired by the Rams to field questions about a possible move. “It’s not really something they’re seeking. People make offers all the time.”

Frontiere has no interest in selling a controlling interest in the team, she said.

Wayne Wedin, a member of Save the Rams, stressed Tuesday that the group’s first priority is remodeling Anaheim Stadium for the Rams and building the Angels a new stadium. That offer will be “very, very competitive with what other cities are offering,” he said.

Wedin, chairman of the Orange County Economic Development Consortium, said that buying the team remains a back-burner option, but that “if purchase is an option, then we are prepared to explore that option.”

But Taormina and other Save the Rams members say the time may be right to offer Frontiere a quick infusion of cash, especially when the Rams are complaining of lean times. Shaw has said in past interviews that this year, for the first time, the Rams will need to borrow money to pay their bills.

Taormina said he and other investors believe the clock on a possible Rams move is ticking too quickly to wait.

Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos confirmed Monday that he made a third trip to Los Angeles, about two weeks ago, to speak with Shaw about moving the team to Baltimore, and officials from St. Louis are aggressively pursuing the Rams.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue also reportedly met with Shaw earlier this month to discuss a possible move.

In his three-phase plan, Taormina said, a handpicked group of local investors will ante up $50 million as soon as possible to buy a 33 1/3% stake in the team.

“I’ve already got about 20 people who are serious about investing,” said Taormina, who said he has been infatuated with the Rams since he was 6 years old and got a Rams uniform for Christmas.

But Taormina said he plans to limit the original investor group to 10 “old, Orange County good guys. I want people that are going to make the Rams into something that is positive for the community . . . who sincerely want to build the image of the team up.”

Taormina declined to name these investors, but the names of Save the Rams members George L. Argyros, owner of Arnel and Affiliates, and Newport Beach-based developer Daniel D. (Ron) Lane of Lane Kuhn Pacific have come up as possible partners.

Argyros, 57, former owner of AirCal and the Seattle Mariners baseball team, is estimated to have a net worth of at least $250 million. Under his guidance, the Mariners returned a huge profit. He is known as a shrewd negotiator, and his company now is a collection of financial holdings spanning international telecommunications, venture capitalism and health care.

The Newport Beach millionaire has kept in almost daily contact with the group as he sailed his 100-foot yacht half way across the world, Save the Rams members said.

Lane, 59, and Irvine title company executive William P. Foley II, also a Save the Rams member, helped bail burger chain founder Carl N. Karcher out of personal financial difficulties in December. The pair represented a local investment group that bought up 22% of Karcher Enterprises and now sit on its board.

Lane could not be reached for comment. Argyros is vacationing in Europe and also could not be reached.

In the second phase of the plan, Taormina said, “we take the company public and we raise $75 million. That money goes to buy 33 1/3% more, leaving Georgia with 33 1/3%.” Taormina said the first public offering would take place “before the start of next season.”

Taormina admitted that his plan, put together by a company that specializes in the purchase of professional sports franchises, gets a little sticky when it comes to Frontiere losing majority ownership. But he said it’s the only way to build a Green Bay Packers-style groundswell of support for the team in Orange County.

The Packers are the only publicly owned National Football League team. They have belonged to the Green Bay Packers Corp. of Green Bay, Wis., since 1922. The last public stock offering was in 1950.

“Let’s get the Rams as a household word,” Taormina said. “The premise of this is that the value of the Rams will grow because of the excitement . . . of the team being turned around.”

After the buzz around the Rams heats up, Taormina said, phase three of the plan will kick in. During this time, Taormina said, it is hoped that the team will grow in value from $150 million to $187 million.

A second public offering of about two-thirds of Georgia’s remaining stake and about a third of the investor group’s stake will be held “about 12 months after the first one,” Taormina said.

“Georgia ends up with 8.5% of the team,” Taormina said. “The public ends up with 65% of the team.” The investor group will keep 26.5% of the team, he said.

“I hope that she’ll consider it because we’re trying our best to keep the Rams in Orange County,” Taormina said.

Times staff writer Mike DiGiovanna contributed to this story