A judge put SkyDome up for public auction Friday,
"ending one chapter of speculation about the future of one
of Canada's most recognizable buildings and starting
another," according to Grange & MacDonald of the Toronto
GLOBE & MAIL. Justice Robert Blair said he "decided that an
open bidding process was the best way to get the troubled
stadium into good financial health." The stadium's
bondholders wanted the facility to be sold to Sportsco for
C$100M so its secured creditors could "recover their money
in full." SkyDome Corp. "argued that the best way to
generate value" for the stadium was to initiate a court-
supervised bidding process "to drum up interest in the
complex." Blair noted that an auction process "would allow
Sportsco to participate in the bidding if it wished."
However, Sportsco attorney Jim McCartney said immediately
after the ruling, "Our offer is officially off the table.
We're extremely disappointed." All SkyDome bids must be
received by January 29, and the court-appointed monitor for
the process, PricewaterhouseCoopers, hopes to implement a
new ownership plan by March 22 (GLOBE & MAIL, 12/19).
