Texas-based Hunt Sports Group, the Crew’s investor-operator, plans to strengthen the team’s ties to Columbus.
Majority owner Clark Hunt, son of late Crew and Major League Soccer founder Lamar Hunt, said Hunt Sports Group has hired the Cleveland-based investment bank Western Reserve Partners to sell a minority ownership stake in the team to one or more local investors.
The Hunt family will continue to own a majority share of the team and 11-year-old Columbus Crew Stadium.
The move comes less than two years after a bid to acquire a minority share of the team by Las Vegas businessman Mark Noorzai and a group of local investors fizzled.