A group of Ascent Entertainment shareholders "accused
the company Tuesday of short-changing them" on the $400M
sale of the Nuggets, Avalanche and Pepsi Center to Bill
Laurie, according to Bob Diddlebock of the DENVER POST. In
a filing with the SEC, Alan Snyder's Snyder Capital
Management said the terms of the deal gave the "strong
appearance" the company board had acted "in its own self-
interest." Snyder Capital owns 12% of Ascent. Former
Ascent Chair Charlie Lyons, who left to become a partner in
the Laurie group, had "recused himself from the Ascent
board's dealings with the teams and arena after joining
Laurie." Lyons said his dealings with Ascent and Laurie
have been ethical. But one shareholder said, "This is about
people's impressions. And the impression that everyone's
getting is that this fish doesn't smell right." Snyder
wrote a May 5 letter to Ascent's board wondering why there
wasn't an auction for the sports properties "in order to get
the best possible price for shareholders," and why the deal
wasn't put to a shareholder vote (DENVER POST, 5/26).
Observers claim that the sale price of the properties are
$100-150M less than their worth (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 5/26).
