Bowdeya Tweh

btweh@enquirer.com

The Louise Dieterle Nippert Trust has hired a Los Angeles-based investment banking firm to help sell its minority stake in the Cincinnati Reds.

Carter Randolph, who manages the trust, said Park Lane has been hired, but declined further comment. Among Park Lane's specialties is helping sell sports franchises. Earlier this month, Randolph told the Enquirer it was working on deals to sell assets owned by Nippert trusts.

Businessman Bob Castellini is the current majority owner of the Reds.

Louis Nippert, Louise's husband, was part of the group that purchased the club from Bill DeWitt Sr. in the mid-1960s in the sale allowing a two-sport facility to be built on the river and for the Cincinnati Bengals to join the National Football League. The Nipperts assumed control of the Reds in the early 1970s and held it through the "Big Red Machine" era, including World Series titles in 1975 and 1976. The couple sold its majority share in the team in 1981, but retained a smaller share of ownership in the team.

Louis Nippert died in 1992 and Louise Nippert died in 2012.

At $600 million, the Cincinnati Reds are ranked No. 20 on a Forbes list of valuations for MLB teams. Bloomberg News estimates the team is worth $680 million.