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» Monday, January 21 2013 |
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The Maloof family that owns the Sacramento Kings has reached an agreement to sell a 65 percent controlling interest in the franchise to a Seattle group led by hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, according to league sources. ESPN.com Sources told ESPN.com that NBA teams were formally notified Sunday night that the Kings have been valued at $525 million and that the parties have executed a purchase agreement, which still requires league approval. ESPN.com The agreement to transfer the 65 percent majority stake in the Kings to the Seattle group represents the 53 percent owned by the Maloofs and an additional 12 percent from minority owner Bob Hernreich. Sources said that there has not yet been an agreement submitted on the remaining 35 percent of the franchise, which is held by minority shareholders, not the Maloofs. ESPN.com One source close to the process told ESPN.com's J.A. Adande that the Maloof family, as it was hoping, will retain a "small piece" of minority interest in the franchise after its expected relocation to Seattle and renaming as the SuperSonics for next season. It's believed, though, that the Maloofs will hold no decision-making power once control of the franchise is transferred. ESPN.com According to our sources, any deal sending the Kings to Seattle would not be a done deal because any deal would be subject to an approval by the NBA’s Board of Governors. In addition, sources tell PBT that Sacramento has been approached by at least three groups of “heavy hitters.” Sacramento could be getting close to announcing a group that meets NBA criteria that has the “vision to transform one of the NBA’s most proven markets into a top NBA franchise.” This, they believe, will help win the NBA’s support for keeping the Kings in Sacramento. NBCSports.com The deal, according to sources familiar with the specifics, calls for the Maloofs to receive a non-refundable $30 million deposit from the Seattle group by Feb. 1. The NBA, furthermore, is fully expecting Hansen to apply for relocation to Seattle for the 2013-14 season by the league's March 1 deadline, enabling the league's board of governors to vote on the application at their annual April meeting. ESPN.com The biggest point in Sacramento’s favor according to sources is the “model offer” of public funds itself, an offer that was in excess of $200 million in a California climate that normally doesn’t support public funds for sports facilities. Sources close to the situation tell PBT that this, along with the league’s fear of another Sonicsgate, will be the deciding factors should Sacramento be able to provide an actionable offer that is competitive with Seattle. NBCSports.com |
» Sunday, January 20 2013 |
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Former NBA executive Andy Dolich said the owners will weigh Sacramento's past success and loyalty to the NBA against Seattle's ample wealth. The board of governors will insist on seeing revenue projections for the team in its proposed new home. "You have to be pretty specific," said Dolich, who was president of the Vancouver Grizzlies when they moved to Memphis in 2001. "The building, demographics of the marketplace, broadcasting." Dolich said NBA owners want the Kings located in whatever market enhances the overall prosperity of the league – and their own franchises. "The blood of this is green – it's money," he said. Sacramento Bee Dolich said the NBA doesn't take relocation lightly – "stability is important." But the league is also wary of picking a fight with one of its owners, especially if it could spill into the courts. When the Maloofs went to the board of governors last year to explain why they were abandoning an arena project for downtown Sacramento, they brought with them a lawyer specializing in antitrust cases. Sacramento Bee As for Seattle, the ownership group led by Chris Hansen has made an offer to the Maloofs, but NBA sources said the amount is short of the reported $525 million. According to Forbes Magazine, the Kings are the 23d most valuable NBA team at $300 million, so it’s highly unlikely the Hansen group would offer nearly twice that. Boston Globe |
» Tuesday, January 15 2013 |
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Officials with AEG, the entertainment company that had hoped last year to help partner on a downtown Sacramento arena, have told the Bee the are still interested in participating in a downtown Sacramento arena project to house the Sacramento Kings - whether the team is under current or new ownership. "We remain committed to the mayor and the city, and we would be more than happy to meet with a potential new owner," an AEG spokesman said. Sacramento Bee Hate to say it, but there is the other possibility in the Kings-Seattle-Sacramento saga: That the Maloofs do... nothing. They choose not to sell -- not to a group that would move the team to Seattle, not to a group that would keep the team in Sacramento -- and no one gets any resolution. I don't think that happens. It's the longest of the long shots. But almost every conversation with anyone connected to the saga includes some reference, usually impolite, of the Maloofs' history of unpredictability on the topic, and so sitting on their hands must be mentioned as an option. Sulia As two cities struggle over the future of the franchise, Sacramento Kings fans on Monday kicked off an intense effort to have a say in the outcome. A fan group launched a website asking people to make nonbinding commitments to purchase season ticket packages in a new Sacramento arena should new owners emerge here for the Kings. Meanwhile, a petition asking NBA Commissioner David Stern to allow a local ownership group the opportunity to match a bid by interests seeking to move the Kings to Seattle eclipsed 7,700 signatures. Sacramento Bee According to Yahoo, the Seattle group is negotiating to buy the 65 percent of the Kings controlled by the Maloofs. The Maloofs control that piece in tandem with Oklahoma businessman Bob Hernreich, a source familiar with the team's finances told The Bee. The Maloofs own 53 percent and Hernreich owns 12 percent. Eric Rose, spokesman for the Maloofs, declined comment. Sacramento Bee |
» Monday, January 14 2013 |
 The NBA held a conference call with members of the league's relocation committee to outline deal points on the proposed sale of majority ownership of the Sacramento Kings to a Seattle-based ownership group, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The call detailed what NBA officials described as "a non-binding set of deal points" on a $525 million sale of majority ownership to the Chris Hansen-Steve Ballmer group, sources said. Discussions have continued in the past week to push the purchase to toward completion and ultimately clear the way for the franchise to move to Seattle, sources told Yahoo! Sports. Yahoo! Sports The call took place on Tuesday – one day before Yahoo! Sports reported the finalizing of a deal – and informed several league owners that the Hansen-Ballmer Seattle group would purchase 65 percent of the Kings, sources said. The league office told members of the relocation committee that the non-binding agreement would constitute 53 percent of the franchise owned by the Maloof family and an additional 12 percent from minority owner Bob Hernreich. The sale price of $525 million is considered an overall valuation of the franchise. The committee is comprised of several NBA owners, including committee chair Clay Bennett of Oklahoma City. Yahoo! Sports The Maloofs own the team, and they aren't interested in selling to anyone interested in keeping the team in Sacramento. Not Ron Burkle, the billionaire founder of the Yucaipa Companies, who tried to buy the team from the Maloofs two years ago. Not Mark Mastrov, the founder of the 24-Hour Fitness chain, who tried to buy the Warriors in 2010 and said this weekend he'd be up for buying the Kings and keeping them in Sacramento. The Maloofs have already implemented plans for a cash call to their minority investors to try and raise capital to pay some of their debts, but that's not going to change their overall intent. "They've got a clean path" to Seattle, one industry source said last week. NBA.com A source with knowledge of the talks said the sale price to Hansen is somewhere between the $500 million Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported last week and the $525 million that CSN Bay Area reporter Matt Steinmetz reported Friday. The final price will likely depend on whether Hansen allows the Maloofs to maintain some sort of presence in the new ownership group; if he did, the price would be closer to the $500 million. If not, it would rise closer to the $525 million. In either case, while the Maloofs remain hopeful that they can have some kind of presence, they are resigned to the fact that Hansen wants them out. "It's a dealbreaker," another source said Sunday. NBA.com The Maloofs believe they've "exhausted," according to the source with knowledge of the talks, every financial possibility in Sacramento. The family walked away from the $391 million deal for a new arena that everyone else involved -- including Mayor Kevin Johnson, the former NBA star -- believed was agreed upon last year. And they were excoriated for that. But they didn't think the city would live up to its end of the bargain, and they still doubt the city can produce the money it says it can. NBA.com The source said the family is "tired" after more than a decade of trying to get an arena deal done that it can live with. "I would venture to say in the reptilian part of their brain, they're happy to leave Sacramento," said former Sacramento City Council member Rob Fong on Sunday evening. "They feel burned by the Mayor from the last time out." NBA.com |
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