Cubs days away from new owners

The Chicago Cubs are expected to have new owners by the end of next week, as the family of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. founder Joe Ricketts completes its $845-million purchase of the team.

Chicago-based bond salesman Thomas Ricketts, who has led his family's bid during a 2½-year-long process, will be chairman of an enterprise that also owns Wrigley Field and a 25% stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Tribune Co., which bought the team for about $20 million in 1981, will keep a 5% stake in the business as a way to avoid a hefty capital gains tax.

Earlier this month, approvals from Major League Baseball and a judge overseeing Tribune's bankruptcy case cleared the way for the transaction. The team is running out the clock on a 10-day period for objectors to register any dissent in Bankruptcy Court. That period will be up early next week; the deal's close is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, one insider says, although such dates can easily slip.