Former Vail resort Owner George Gillett said in an
affidavit filed in DE court that Ascent Chair Charlie Lyons
"tried to prevent higher bids" when he conducted the sale of
the Avalanche, Nuggets and Pepsi Center, according to Al
Lewis of the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS. In the affidavit taken
Monday, Gillett said, "Lyons repeatedly encouraged me to
move as quickly as possible so that other qualified buyers
did not learn of the availability of the assets and emerge
with better offers." Gillett's testimony "supports
shareholders who are suing" Lyons and Ascent Entertainment's
Board of Dirs for "what they call a self-dealing
transaction." Gillett added that he and partner Bjorn Erik
Borgen are willing to present a bid "substantially above"
the $400M purchase price for the sports assets agreed to
with Bill and Nancy Laurie. Gillett and Borgen began
talking about the sports assets in '98, but Lyons told
Gillett in early '99 that he would only recommend to
Ascent's board that the Lauries bid for the Nuggets and
Pepsi Center. Gillett's affidavit reads: "He said that he
would like me and Borgen, however, to buy the Colorado
Avalanche. ... [Lyons] said that an offer from me and Borgen
... was necessary to save the Laurie's and his interest in
owning the [Nuggets] and the Pepsi Center." On "another
legal front," settlement negotiations in the suit between
Gillett and Borgen against Lyons and the Lauries for
allegedly "cutting them out of a deal to acquire the
Avalanche" have broken down (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 6/17).
