Denver-based Ascent Entertainment "has agreed in
principle" to sell the Nuggets, Avalanche and the $170M
Pepsi Center to billionaire Bill Laurie, whose wife, Nancy
Walton, is an "heir to the Wal-Mart Corp. fortune,"
according to Monroe & Diddlebock in a front-page feature in
the DENVER POST. NBA sources "confirmed" yesterday that a
deal worth "at least" $400M "is on the table," though a sale
"may not be wrapped up until July 1 due to tax
ramifications" from Ascent's mid-'97 "spinoff" from MD-based
Comsat Corp. Ascent Chair & CEO Charlie Lyons had no
comment on the proposed sale, and Monroe & Diddlebock write
that Wal-Mart execs "denied any corporate involvement in an
Ascent deal." It remains "unknown" whether Denver-based
Liberty Media, which paid $19M for a stake in the Pepsi
Center, would "keep its interest if Laurie buys the arena."
Laurie is the brother-in-law of Rams Minority Owner Stan
Kroenke, and Forbes listed the Lauries' worth at $992M
(DENVER POST, 3/30). In Denver, Terry Frei writes that it
"seems apparent" that Ascent will "unload" the teams and
Pepsi Center before "next fall." Frei: "Ascent will be
departing a Denver sports scene, and even a Denver skyline,
it was responsible for improving" (DENVER POST, 3/30).
