The Celtics' publicly-traded partnership units "are
under the gun, falling sharply on relatively heavy volume
over the past two weeks," according to Bailey & Syre of the
BOSTON GLOBE. At issue is a "plan that would split the
Celtics master limited partnership into two new entities."
But "confusion over the complicated reorganization plan and
questions about the way it has been advanced are prompting
some investors to simply sell instead of choosing between
one of the two new ownership vehicles." Celtics units have
"slumped nearly" 20% in the last four weeks, and "trading
volume is running at about 10 times normal levels." Some
brokers have complained that the reorganization is "taking
place without any independent appraisal or 'fairness'
opinion from outside experts, despite potential conflicts of
interests between public unit holders and the Celtics
general partner, among others." Celtics execs said "they
did not obtain a fairness opinion because the reorganization
will have no impact on the ownership interest of unit
holders." Bailey & Syre: "The Celtics are being forced to
change their ownership structure because a special tax
status extended to a small group of master limited
partnerships is expiring" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/26).
