Celtics Chair Paul Gaston "offered to increase his
stake in the team's ownership yesterday," causing shares in
the Boston Celtics LP to reach a 52-week high of 17 1/2
before closing at 16 1/2, up 2 1/2, according to Gregg Krupa
of the BOSTON GLOBE. Gaston's Castle Creek Partners "is
offering to buy" up to 430,000 shares of the publicly held
team at $17 per unit in a cash tender offer set to expire on
March 1. The offer for the units, about 16% of those
outstanding, "spurred heavier trading" in the team's shares,
with 60,400 units traded compared to a three-month daily
average of 16,400. Castle Creek presently owns 120,000
shares of the publicly traded portion of the Celtics
ownership and would have a 24% stake in the stock "if the
tender offer is realized in full." Gaston's latest move
"signals his expectations that the stock will increase in
value" despite the NBA's recent lockout and Michael Jordan's
retirement. Celtics COO & CFO Richard Pond said the team
would also like to reduce the high cost of serving some
80,000 unit holders who have "bought shares as souvenirs
more than investments." Pond: "The assumption is that by
consolidating about 20 percent of the stock, we'll reduce
the number of shareholders" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/14).
ON THE STREET: In Providence, Neil Downing reports that
Gaston's move has "raised the possibility that the franchise
may one day be sold" (Providence JOURNAL, 1/14).
WNBA IN HARTFORD: The Celtics "are interested" in
sponsoring a WNBA team and "would consider" having it play
games in Hartford. Team VP/Media Relations Jeff Twiss said
that talks were still "preliminary" (BOSTON HERALD, 1/14).
