Donald Sturm's deal to acquire Ascent Entertainment's
sports assets ended Monday "with a threat of litigation
after" Sturm asked Ascent to "knock millions of dollars off"
the acquisition price, according to Lewis & Flynn in a
front-page report in today's ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS. Ascent
CFO Jim Cronin said shortly after the 6:00pm MT deadline
last night, "We are out of contract. We are reviewing our
options including litigation with Mr. Sturm." Ascent said
that it is "considering whether to contact other potential
investors who've expressed an interest in the sports teams,
or hold a new auction for the teams." Sources said that
Sturm said he "wasn't prepared to go ahead" with a deal
unless he received additional concessions that "effectively
would have cut the purchase price." Sources add that Sturm
"initially requested concessions that were worth more than"
$40M, but "those had been reduced" to about $10M on Monday.
Ascent's board rejected that request yesterday. Sturm had
asked that Ascent move the date of the deal from July 1 to
November 30, "meaning Ascent would have had to pick up five
months of operating expenses that Sturm was expected to
shoulder upon completion of the deal" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS,
11/16). Also in Denver, Stephen Keating reports that the
deal "melted down" amid "accusations of bad-faith
negotiations and a possible lawsuit" against Sturm. Keating
adds that Sturm had "won" $13M in concessions from Ascent
during the four months of negotiations. Neither Ascent nor
Sturm face paying a break-up fee (DENVER POST, 11/16).
