Wednesday, March 15, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 5
Royals select new owner
Chairman's bid approved by team
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals selected David Glass, former chairman of Wal-Mart, Inc., as the club's new owner yesterday.
The selection of 64-year-old Glass, chairman of the Royals, must be approved by major league baseball.
The process of finding a new owner for the American League club has been under way since the death of founder Ewing Kauffman in 1993.
Glass' bid was reported to be about $96 million.
He was selected rather than other bidders for the club in what board member Louis W. Smith described as a competitive process with competitive bids. Others thought to have made bids were Miles Prentice, a New York investor who lost out in an attempt to buy the Royals last year, and rum executive Facundo Bacardi.
Denver billionaire Donald Sturm was reported to have made a bid at one point, but the Royals denied that report.
Mike Herman, team president, said the Royals' board looked for a new owner who would keep the team in Kansas City and was offering a fair price. Baseball knowledge, financial
accountability and an understanding of major league baseball were important in the selection.
He said the final agreement must be approved by the baseball owners at their meeting April 18. The deal is expected to be closed on April 30.
Herman thanked everyone who made a bid and said $6 million in stock was a tremendous amount to say.
Prentice's bid was reported to be in the range of $110 million to $115 million, while Bacardi's bid was reported to be in the range of $85 million to $90 million.
"It's a great
baseball town, and more than anything else that I've wanted out of this process, and I know the board felt the same way, is for Kansas City to unite behind the Royals." Glass said.
Team founder Ewing Kauffman spent the last five years of his life trying to find a local owner for the Royals. He died in 1993 leaving a complicated succession plan awaiting approval by the Internal Revenue Service.
The plan specified that all money from the sale would go to Kansas City charities and that the board of directors did not necessarily have to take the highest bid. One provision
was that Kaufman wanted a new owner who would keep the team in Kansas City.
In 1993-94, the economics of baseball were changing to the disadvantage of small-market clubs like the Rovals, and interest was minimal.
Glass, then the chairman of WalMart and a friend of Kauffman, appeared to be the owner-designate until former star George Brett said he was putting together a group of investors. By then, Glass had become chairman of the Royals board and, claiming he was wounded by public criticism of his supposed advantage, said he was no longer interested in buying the team
The bid in November 1998 was awarded to New York Investor Miles Prentice, but baseball owners voted 29-1 last September to table Prentice's $75 million offer, saying baseball economics were too uncertain for small-market teams.
Two months later, Robert DuPuy, baseball's chief legal officer, told the Royals that he had informed Prentice that he would not be approved as the control person of the Royals. He said that decision was based on the opinions of the ownership committee and the baseball commissioner.
The process then was reopened, and Glass re-entered the picture along with Prentice and other new bidders, including Bacardi.
Rams' owner may buy Colorado teams
The Associated Press
DENVER — A Wal-Mart heir who owns part of the St. Louis Rams is interested in buying the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and the Pepsi Center. The Denver Post reported yesterday.
Stan Kroenke, 52, a developer from Columbia, Mo., has visited Denver at least twice this year to look at the teams, which are owned by Ascent Entertainment Group Inc., the newspaper said.
Kroenke would not confirm or deny that he was looking to buy the teams, which are being sold along with other Ascent properties to Liberty Media Corp. for $755 million.
Officials at Liberty, who are most interested in Ascent's hotel cable company, had said they planned to sell the sports teams if they acquired Ascent.
"I think there's a lot of people interested in that deal," Kroenke said. "But anything reported is pure speculation. Negotiations are not going on."
Kroenke is the brother-in-law of Nancy and Bill Laurie, also of Columbia, Mo., who unsuccessfully tried to buy the teams and the Pepsi Center last year. Kroenke's wife, Ann, is Nancy Laurie's sister and the niece of Wal-Mart co-founder Sam Walton.
The Lauries offered $400 million for the two teams and the arena
last year. Although accepted by company officials, the deal was killed by a shareholder lawsuit that said the price was too low.
Later, Ascent accepted a $461 million bid from Denver billionaire Donald Sturm. That deal collapsed in November when he failed to reach an agreement with the city about guarantees that would keep the teams in Denver for the next 25 years.
Kroenke runs two Missouri companies that develop shopping centers and apartment complexes. He owns 40 percent of the Rams and is the team's vice president.
Liberty's offer to buy Ascent expires at midnight March 27 unless extended.
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