BALTIMORE — The partnership led by David Rubenstein will own about 97% of the Orioles when it completes the sale’s second phase in a transaction that could occur as soon as the end of May, according to the private equity billionaire.

“We originally structured the deal so that we would own about 40%,” Rubenstein told The Baltimore Sun. He said the death of former club owner Peter Angelos on March 23 accelerated when the partnership would obtain the balance, a process that otherwise could have taken a few years.

Rubenstein, during an interview last weekend in the Camden Yards owner’s suite, discussed a stadium renovation wish list, his plans to hire a new business executive and his cameo as the hose-wielding “Mr. Splash.”

It had been uncertain exactly what percentage of the club Rubenstein’s partnership would ultimately hold. The purchase of the club was approved by Major League Baseball owners on March 27.

Peter Angelos, who bought the club for $173 million in 1993, owned about 70% of the team, with about 30% held by minority investors including the estate of the late novelist Tom Clancy, retired tennis star Pam Shriver and others.

The minority investors contractually had “tag-along rights,” meaning they could essentially join in the sale.

While Rubenstein declined to discuss those investors’ individual decisions, it’s clear that most sold all or most of their stakes because otherwise there wouldn’t be 97% available to Rubenstein’s group.

A City College graduate, Rubenstein, 74, grew up playing Little League in Baltimore and is the team’s fifth owner since the club moved to the city in 1954. He co-founded the Carlyle Group, a global investment firm, in 1987, and is worth $3.9 billion, according to Forbes.

Rubenstein bought the club from the Angelos family in a transaction valuing the team at $1.725 billion. He holds the partnership’s largest stake — it’s not publicly known what that share is — and is the “control person,” meaning he is officially accountable for the club.

Rubenstein’s group includes other businessmen, Maryland leaders and philanthropists, including Orioles icon Cal Ripken Jr., Ares Management co-founder Michael Arougheti, former New York City mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg, former Baltimore mayor Kurt Schmoke and Basketball Hall of Famer Grant Hill.

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