N.Y. real estate financier Andrew Penson has offered
$450M for the Redskins and Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, "the
first of what may be many offers as the trustees of the
Cooke estate prepare to put the team on the market,"
according to Heath & Walsh of the WASHINGTON POST. Penson
is sending contracts to each of the seven trustees
overseeing the estate of Jack Kent Cooke. Penson's local
rep and liaison with the Cooke organization is MD real
estate developer and Democratic Party fundraiser Nathan
Landow. Penson confirmed his offer and sources familiar
with it said that the deal "is for cash and the buyer would
assume none of the stadium's debt." That means the Cooke
estate would have to pay off the stadium's $161M debt, which
would leave about $290M for the estate. The trustees of the
foundation have six years left to make a deal. Penson's
contract would allow Redskins President John Kent Cooke the
chance to purchase a 30% interest in the team, with Penson
owning the remainder, sources said. Sources added that if
Cooke declines, Penson "is prepared to put up virtually all
of the purchase price" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/29).
OPEN BIDDING: Sources said that the trustees "are
preparing to open bidding for the team," and have retained
Morgan Stanley "to help them set a price and evaluate
offers." John Kent Cooke, one of the trustees, has hired
Montgomery Securities to assist him. According to financial
and real estate sources in N.Y., Penson's backing is from
Lehman Brothers. Landow, on Penson's bid: "There are no
plans to ever move this team" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/29).
NOT COOKED YET: In a statement, Cooke said the final
step in acquiring the team "is as complicated as it will be
expensive: my father's estate must receive a fair price. ...
I hope ownership of the team is resolved in the near future
and that it continues to be in my family" (WASHINGTON POST,
8/30). In N.Y., Robert McFadden reported that Cooke "did
not give any details of when or how he would bid for the
team, nor did his statement indicate whether he had found
any" investment partners (N.Y. TIMES, 8/30).
WHO IS PENSON? In N.Y., Slatin & Haberman reported that
one of Penson's "major real-estate feats was buying a piece
of the mortgage on the debt-ridden Chrysler Building," which
was owned by Jack Kent Cooke. Because of that deal, Penson
"already has an inside line with the Cooke estate." In
addition to Landow, another investor in Penson's bid "is
David Edelstein, who's part of a plan to build a 41-story
highrise over the West Side YMCA" (N.Y. POST, 8/30).
