[外電] Co-owner split hits big snag

看板Hawks作者ZazaPachulia (皮卡丘)時間19年前 (2006/02/23 14:19)推噓1(1推 0噓 0→)

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Co-owner split hits big snag Belkin upset with money lost during delay in selling Hawks share By TIM TUCKER The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 02/23/06 Steve Belkin says he is losing up to $40,000 per day in interest because of the delay in completing the sale of his stake in the Hawks and Thrashers. But Belkin's partners say the estranged part-owner has not had to help fund the teams' "substantial operating losses" since August, saving him as much as $9 million in capital calls. Such rare glimpses into the economics of big-time sports are contained in recent court filings by the Hawks-Thrashers owners, who are finding it as difficult to break up as it was to co-exist. When the feuding owners made a deal to divorce last summer, they thought they had covered all the bases. They agreed Belkin would sell his stake to his partners — principally Bruce Levenson, Ed Peskowitz and Michael Gearon Jr. — for a price to be determined by up to three appraisals by investment banks. They agreed Belkin would choose the first appraiser. They agreed that either party objecting to the results of the first appraisal would choose the second appraiser. And they agreed the NBA would choose the third appraiser, if necessary, by drawing a name from a hat, with the final price being the middle of the three appraisals. But the 13-page buyout agreement missed one base: It did not specify who would choose the second appraiser if both parties objected to the first appraisal. And that, according to court documents, is what happened — Belkin objecting to the appraisal because it was "grossly undervalued," the other owners objecting because it was "grossly excessive" and both sides then claiming the right to choose the second appraiser. So the owners will be back in court Friday, asking a Maryland judge to referee a buyout process in disarray. "The parties, in short, are at loggerheads as a result of the failure of their agreement to contemplate, address or resolve the impasse they now face," states a motion filed by the owners who agreed to buy out Belkin. "Thus, unless this court supplies a term to break the deadlock, the contract will fail for want of an essential term." At Friday's hearing in Rockville, Md., each side will ask Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Eric Johnson for the right to select the second appraiser: ‧ Belkin will ask the judge to rule that he earned the right by being the first party to object to the first appraisal. He filed his objection one minute after the 70-page report was submitted to him by CitiGroup Private Bank. ‧ The other owners will ask the judge to rule that "a fair, balanced process" demands that they choose the second appraiser since Belkin chose the first and they, too, objected to the first appraisal within the allotted five business days. It's possible that the judge will decline to supply the key term. In that case, the entire contract could be rendered inoperative, and the parties could be faced with negotiating a new deal or waiting many months for a full trial. Potentially tens of millions of dollars, as well as the next chapter in perhaps the longest-running soap opera in Atlanta sports history, rides on the outcome. According to court documents, Belkin retained J. P. Morgan Securities, at a cost of $1.5 million, to conduct a second appraisal after objecting to the CitiGroup valuation. Court documents do not reveal the amount of either appraisal, but a Belkin brief says the second came in 40 percent higher than the first. Another Belkin filing says the delay in completing the sale of his approximately 30 percent stake is "costing [him] up to $40,000 in interest alone each day." Although the interest rate used for that calculation is not provided, $40,000 per day in interest would suggest a sales price many times Belkin's investment, which, according to court documents, was about $11.7 million. (Time Warner publicly put the total value of the deal at $250 million when it sold the Hawks, Thrashers and Philips Arena rights to the Atlanta Spirit group, but most of that was in long-term liabilities, including arena bond payments backed by Hawks revenue.) A Belkin brief states: "For six months, the defendants have been able to have their cake and eat it too. Since inducing [Belkin's] resignation as NBA Governor in August, 2005, the defendants have enjoyed complete control of the teams and the arena rights without having to pay for it." But in an affidavit Gearon says Belkin "was relieved of [his] obligation to pay [his] share of the substantial operating losses of Atlanta Spirit" by the buyout deal. According to Gearon's affidavit, the owners had a $15 million capital call in November to which Belkin was not required to contribute. The affidavit says the owners expect to issue another capital call for $7 million "in the next few weeks, " to which Belkin also will not have to contribute if the buyout agreement remains in effect. Belkin's share of the two capital calls would have come to $9.15 million, according to Gearon's affidavit. The latest legal maneuvering began with a lawsuit filed by Belkin in November. The suit was filed in Maryland because the buyout agreement stipulates disputes are to be litigated there. Levenson and Peskowitz own a business information company based in Rockville, Md. According to an affidavit by Ray Baltz, an attorney who represents Atlanta Spirit, the possibility of both sides objecting to the same appraisal did not surface in last summer's negotiations. "At no time during the course of the entire settlement negotiations . . . did any of the parties or their counsel or any representative of the NBA raise with me the question of 'what happens if both parties object to the [first appraiser's] valuation?'?" Baltz's affidavit says. "The [contract] is simply silent on the subject." Friday's hearing is to address only the issue of who picks the second appraiser. Other issues raised in Belkin's lawsuit will be considered later, including his contention that he should be allowed to buy out his partners for an amount equal to their total contributed capital if they don't finish the purchase of his stake within an allotted time. 資料來源 http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/hawks/stories/0223belkin.html -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 59.121.56.40