Donald Sturm "became a hometown hero" yesterday when he
agreed to pay $461M for the Nuggets, Avalanche and Pepsi
Center, according to Gonzalez & Rebchook of the ROCKY
MOUNTAIN NEWS. Ascent Entertainment signed the deal to sell
its sports holdings to Sturm's company, the Sturm Group.
The deal came after Bill and Nancy Laurie "decided Tuesday
not to raise" the $400M bid they made in April. The Lauries
will receive $8.2M from Ascent -- a $3.2M break-up fee and
$5M to cover expenses related to the bid. Some "industry
observers weren't surprised to see the Lauries back out."
Sportscorp President Marc Ganis: "For them to bid the price
up would have been tantamount to acknowledging that [the]
$400 million price was not a fair price. By walking, they
kept their reputations intact." Most observers expect Sturm
to "hang on to both franchises" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 7/28).
Meanwhile, Sturm cut short a trip to Europe to close the
deal and is likely to meet with team execs today (ROCKY
MOUNTAIN NEWS, 7/28). The DENVER POST's Stephen Keating:
"Beyond stating a desire to keep the teams locally owned,
Sturm ... has not revealed much about his motivations for
buying the teams and Pepsi Center." Keating calls Sturm a
"low key billionaire" whose "wealth comes primarily from
stock ownership in telecommunications pipeline companies."
He also owns four banks in the state (DENVER POST, 7/28).
VINDICATION ALL AROUND: After Ascent shareholders
deemed the Lauries' $400M offer as too low, company
investors were happy with the increased bid by Sturm.
Shareholder Nelson Peltz: "I'm pleased that the shareholders
are getting $2 more a share for the teams. This sort of
vindicates the position that shareholders took." While
shares in Ascent "slipped Tuesday," Robotti & Co. analyst
Mario Cibelli called it a "knee-jerk reaction by traders"
(ROCKY MTN NEWS, 7/28). In Denver, Guy Kelly writes that
The Bonham Group President Dean Bonham feels "vindicated" by
Sturm's bid, as Bonham spoke out against the Laurie deal and
"challenged" former Ascent Chair Charlie Lyons' role in the
sale. Bonham: "This is one of the better days in my
career." He adds the outcome shows "the process was flawed,
the shareholders had been lied to, and the assets were
extremely undervalued" (ROCKY MTN NEWS, 7/28).
TEAMS HAVE BIG SUPPORTER: In Denver, Bob Kravitz writes
that the deal means that "for the first time," the Nuggets
"are going to be owned by someone who is local, has a
history of pumping dough into the Denver community and is
richer than God" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 7/28).
