Rams Minority Owner Stan Kroenke has reached a deal to
buy the Nuggets, Avalanche and Pepsi Center from Liberty
Media for $450M, according to Jason Blevins of the DENVER
POST. Liberty Media will retain a 6.5% stake in the assets,
while Kroenke will pay for the other 93.5%, which values the
assets at more than $485M. The price "is well above" the
last bid of $461M submitted by Donald Sturm last year and
the $400M offered by Bill and Nancy Laurie before that.
Kroenke outbid a group led by outgoing Devils Owner John
McMullen, Broncos Owner Pat Bowlen and John Elway, which
offered $420M and also allowed Liberty Media to keep a 6.5%
stake in the assets. But Liberty Media CEO Gary Howard said
that besides Kroenke's proposal, there was only "informal
interest" in the assets and "not another written bid."
Howard called Kroenke the "logical buyer" and said that
Liberty Media selected his bid because of the "simplicity of
the transaction," with only one owner and the fact that
Kroenke has the "`financial capability' to weather at least
two years of red ink." Also, Kroenke did not need "any
subsequent partnerships" to be arranged, and he did "not
depend on a bank to get a loan for [the] assets." Howard:
"There were more pluses with Stan than with the other guys."
The deal still faces NBA and NHL approval, and Liberty Media
and Kroenke have scheduled a June 30 closing date (DENVER
POST, 4/25). Kroenke will write a check to Liberty Media
for $284.75M and assume $136M in debt on the Pepsi Center,
pushing the value of his stake in the assets to $420.75M.
The teams and the arena are valued at $450M (ROCKY MOUNTAIN
NEWS, 4/25). Kroenke, on the deal: "I think we got a fair
price and offered a fair amount" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH,
4/25). Liberty Media acquired the sports assets in March
from Ascent Entertainment for $300M, and The Bonham Group
Chair Dean Bonham said, "Liberty ends up being the winner in
this transaction over everyone else involved" (DENVER POST,
4/25). Kroenke wants to "maintain" his 40% interest in the
Rams and said that the Liberty Media deal "does not
conflict" with the NFL's cross-ownership policy because he
owns less than 50% of the Rams (S.L. POST-DISPATCH, 4/25).
LIBERTY'S NOT FOR ALL: After learning of the deal
yesterday, McMullen "blasted" Liberty Media for "ramrodding"
the sale of the sports assets and "predicted the deal will
collapse." McMullen: "We didn't get a fair shot. I'm very
angry and I think I have a right to be." McMullen said that
his group "never had a chance to submit a bid in writing"
because it "couldn't get due diligence materials" from
investment bank Alan & Co., which was handling the sale for
Liberty Media. McMullen added that the sale "will fall
through as soon as Kroenke tries to get approval from the
city of Denver" and the NFL because of his ownership stake
in the Rams (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 4/25). Although the city
won't approve any new owner unless they agree to keep the
teams in Denver for 25 years, Kroenke said that he will
"absolutely" keep the teams in CO (ROCKY MTN NEWS, 4/25).
