Denver billionaire Donald Sturm "made an offer" 10%
higher than the pending price for the Nuggets, Avalanche and
Pepsi Center, but was "turned away," according to a
deposition taken Friday in a shareholders' lawsuit against
Ascent, according to Al Lewis of the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS.
The Bonham Group President Dean Bonham testified that Sturm
was "willing" to pay $440M for the sports assets, "subject
to due diligence." That "tops" the $400M paid by Wal Mart
heirs Bill and Nancy Laurie to acquire the companies. But
Stan Garnett, the attorney for Ascent CEO Charlie Lyons,
said that the $440M offer from Sturm "came too late."
Garnett: "There was no discussion of that number until late
May, and that was based off a very preliminary analysis."
Bonham's deposition "contrasts Lyons' claims" that the teams
were auctioned for the "best possible price" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN
NEWS, 6/12). The SportsBusiness Journal's Liz Mullen reports
exclusively in THE DAILY this morning that in the
deposition, Bonham testified that Ascent CFO James Cronin
told him he did not vote on the sale because of concerns
that very few, if any, CO residents on the Forbes 400 list
were asked if they were interested in the teams and arena.
Bonham: "The fact that a billionaire of Donald Sturm's
status was sitting a stone's throw away from Charlie Lyons'
office and was not contacted to see if he was interested in
buying the assets is proof to that" (THE DAILY).
LYONS' IMAGE CAMPAIGN: In Denver, Al Lewis wrote that
Lyons named Steve Farber of Brownstein Hyatt Farber &
Strickland, one of Denver's "most respected and influential
attorneys," to handle his defense in the shareholder suit.
Lewis, on Lyons' attorneys: "Count on a well-orchestrated
defense. ... They will deliver credible witnesses who will
argue that Ascent is receiving a fair price for its assets.
One of them is [NBA Commissioner] David Stern." Lyons also
has retained a PR strategist (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 6/13).
