Speculation continued on potential buyers of Madison
Square Garden, the Knicks and Rangers if Hilton Hotels Corp.
succeeds in its hostile takeover bid of ITT Corp. and sells
off ITT's non-gambling entertainment assets.
AWAY WE GO: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir notes that MSG
may be worth $650M-1B, and he mentions Fox Sports as a
possible buyer, since it would have "much to gain by
acquiring the arena because of its battle to get the Fox
News Channel carried" on cable TV in N.Y. Fox Sports called
such rumors "premature." Sandomir notes that if Hilton
wants to auction ITT's 50% stake, "it would have to go
through Cablevision, which has the option to buy ITT's
share." But Cablevision could be "unwilling or unable" to
buy out ITT's half-share because its balance sheet is
"loaded with debt" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/29). The N.Y. POST's Jon
Elsen writes that former Paramount President Stanley Jaffe
could be interested, while MLB Rangers minority partner
Roland Betts has previously expressed an interest in buying
MSG properties (N.Y. POST, 1/29).
UP THE ANTE? Hilton President & CEO Stephen Bollenbach
"appeared to leave the door open" for raising the bid for
ITT. Bollenbach: "Perhaps there is some additional value
there, and if there is, perhaps there's some additional
price" (Edwin McDowell, N.Y. TIMES, 1/29).
COUNTER STRIKE? The N.Y. DAILY NEWS' Douglas Feiden
writes that ITT, "fiercely committed to maintaining its
independence," can fight the hostile bid by spinning off its
assets to raise cash and reward shareholders, without
selling out entirely; or deploying a "poison pill" by
dramatically increasing the number of shares outstanding,
which would make the company "prohibitively expensive to
buy" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/29).
