Washington ? A group led by local real estate developer Ted Lerner and Stan Kasten officially took control of the Washington Nationals on Monday, finalizing the $450 million purchase of the club from Major League Baseball. Lerner is the managing principal owner, and his son Mark and sons-in-law Edward Cohen and Robert Tanenbaum are principal owners.

Kasten, a former executive with the Atlanta Braves and the NHL’s Thrashers and NBA’s Hawks, is the team president. Less than half an hour after announcing that the team’s sale was finalized, the Nationals said they hired the Arizona Diamondbacks vice president of scouting operations, Mike Rizzo, as an assistant general manager and vice president of baseball operations.