OAKLAND, Calif. -- The leaders of some of Oakland's biggest companies are joining forces with city officials to try to keep the Athletics in the city.

Business leaders and city officials gathered at the downtown headquarters of Clorox Co. on Thursday morning, where Clorox chairman and CEO Don Knauss said the company is endorsing efforts to keep the A's in Oakland.

Executives from about a dozen Oakland-based companies were also at the gathering, as was Oakland mayor Jean Quan.

Knauss also said that if the owners of the A's are not committed to keeping the team in Oakland, an ownership group has been identified with what he termed the "financial wherewithal" to buy the team.

But A's owner Lew Wolff says in an email to The Associated Press that the team is "not for sale, no one has reached out to purchase."