REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Major League Baseball has approved the sale of a majority of Nintendo of America’s interest in the Seattle Mariners to other members of the current ownership group. Nintendo of America will retain a 10 percent stake in the team and regional sports network, while the remainder of its holdings has been sold to other members of First Avenue Entertainment LLLP (FAE). FAE is the limited partnership that owns the Seattle Mariners and a majority interest in Root Sports NW.
As part of the sale, current CEO Howard Lincoln has retired from day-to-day operations, and John Stanton has replaced him as Chairman and CEO, as well as the designated Major League Baseball Control Person for the franchise. Lincoln will continue on as a member of the FAE Board of Directors, representing Nintendo’s ownership interests.
Final financial terms were not disclosed, but the financial impact of the sale to Nintendo will be incorporated into Nintendo Co., Ltd.’s next quarterly financial report.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii U™ and Wii™ home consoles, and Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ families of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.4 billion video games and more than 693 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo GameCube™ and Wii systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.com.
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