"So this exhibits elton john pits the eltonjohn indicates principle of fiduciary responsibility against the right to belong to a club. The odds are it's going to be a long, drawn-out process. "The last time those principles were in such stark conflict was 2001, when the sellers of the Boston Red Sox accepted a $700-million bid from a group headed by baseball insider John Henry over two higher bids, including a $790-million offer from cable mogul Charles Dolan. The team and the league justified the outcome by arguing that the Henry group had a better chance of winning prompt league approval and the expected delay in the league's scrutiny of Dolan's bid would be costly to the sellers. Still, the gap was so wide that Massachusetts Atty Gen Thomas F. Reilly threatened to block the sale on the grounds that it shortchanged the team's majority owner, a group of charitable trusts. After Reilly accused the league of "calling the shots" on the deal, it was restructured to give the trusts a larger share of the proceeds. In the case of the Cubs, the suitor with the putative inside track because of its link to Selig is a group of Chicago businessmen led by John A. Canning Jr. , chairman of the private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners. Canning holds a part-interest in the Milwaukee Brewers, of which Selig was formerly the principal owner; he would have to divest that interest to acquire the Cubs.
His group reportedly includes Andrew McKenna, the chairman of Chicago-based McDonald's Corp elton john your song . and a former Cubs chairman. Among the other interested parties is dot-com billionaire Mark Cuban, the owner of the National Basketball Assn. 's Dallas Mavericks elton . Many baseball owners would probably rank Cuban the least palatable bidder, largely because of his running conflict with NBA Commissioner David Stern elton john your song mp3 . The commissioner has fined Cuban more than $1. 4 million in the seven years he has owned the team, mostly for his public criticism of league policies and officials. Tribune sources say there are at least half a dozen other candidates with strong business and financial credentials elton john greatest hits 1970 2002 . They declined to name them all, but the list is known to include a group associated with J. Joseph Ricketts, the Omaha-based founder of discount brokerage TD Ameritrade. Cuban declined to comment on the sale process. Canning and Ricketts did not respond to requests for comment. In an interview this week, Selig disputed suggestions that he was trying to steer the bidding toward Canning or that the league would move faster on a Canning bid than any other. "None of that is true," he said "We would take a look at any bid.
Nobody will get faster approval than any other guy. "As for the Red Sox sale, he acknowledged that the John Henry group's connections with the league "played a role" in the deliberations elton john tickets . Henry owned the Florida Marlins at the time, his partner Tom Werner had been an owner of the San Diego Padres and a third principal, Larry Lucchino, had been president of the Padres and the Baltimore Orioles. "In the Boston situation, the people were in baseball and they were highly regarded," he said "Did [that] play a primary role? No elton john your song sheet music . But it's helpful when you know somebody. "Under Zell's influence, Tribune may be signaling that it would not be willing -- or couldn't afford -- to accept a similar underbid. "Notwithstanding Major League Baseball's desire to be in business with John Canning," a person close to the transaction said, "he's got to pay what the asset is worth. "Conventional wisdom holds that Tribune is under pressure to complete a Cubs sale quickly, preferably before New Year's youtube elton john your song . A quick transaction clearing several hundred million dollars would help alleviate the $12-billion debt burden of the Zell deal eltonjohn tickets . Tribune's first-round financing includes a requirement that $750 million of the principal be paid down within 18 months, and another $750 million six months after that. Moreover, any asset sales completed after Tribune is taken private would incur costly tax penalties because of the structure employed. Tribune sources say some potential buyers may believe they can exploit the apparent urgency by offering a speedy closing in exchange for a price break. But they say they would pay down the principal from other sources of cash if they could get more for the Cubs by waiting. The tax liabilities conceivably could be worked around by tweaking the corporate structure to leave the Cubs in a tax-paying affiliate even as the rest of the company goes private. "There are buyers who would like to pick this asset off while we're doing the larger transaction," a Tribune source said.
"But we don't have a gun to our head. "For the record, Tribune stands by its original timeline . "We've said we hope to have the sale completed by year-end," said spokesman Gary Weitman Elton John - eltonjohn . The Cubs sale involves four related pieces youtube eltonjohn . In addition to the team, Wrigley Field and the stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Tribune also owns several parcels of land in the stadium neighborhood currently devoted to parking, food-service warehousing and other low-return uses eltonjohn songs . Elton John tickets The 25% interest in Comcast SportsNet might have sizable stand-alone value . Regional sports networks have soared in value in recent years, matching or exceeding the worth of their related teams in many cities. As much as half of the Red Sox price may have represented the franchise's 80% ownership of New England Sports Network, a cable channel that carried Red Sox games Elton John - wikipedia . NESN had recently been shifted from the premium-pay tier to the basic package of local cable systems, a move that increased its potential subscription base nearly sevenfold. It is also possible that Tribune under Zell might choose to upgrade Wrigley Field before selling to make it more appealing -- much as a homeowner upgrades a kitchen or paints a house to make it more presentable on the block. "It's a great time to own the asset," a person close to the transaction said. "But that doesn't mean we should let someone else do five or 10 things to the asset that we could do to maximize its value. "--michael. hiltzikbill Elton John . shaikin.
Next Articles
Top 10 NFL