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Hawks have bid in place for 800 Million

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Hawks have bid in place for 800 Million 

Post#1 » by PandaKidd » Fri Feb 27, 2015 9:11 pm

http://www.peachtreehoops.com/2015/2/27 ... illion-bid

Sounds like no locals doe

According to ProBasketballTalk's Kurt Helin, many of the bids are heavy on foreign investors that have teamed up with recognizable NBA people to make the bids. Helin also reports that while the deadline has passed, there is still time for a more lucrative offer to come forth. He speculates that as the reason for the $800 million price tag to have leaked out.
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Re: Hawks have bid in place for 800 Million 

Post#2 » by azuresou1 » Fri Feb 27, 2015 9:39 pm

$800M honestly seems ridiculously low for a successful NBA franchise located in the 5th biggest media market in the US.

If I had money I'd easily be offering $1.3B for the team.
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Re: Hawks have bid in place for 800 Million 

Post#3 » by Jamaaliver » Sat Feb 28, 2015 12:12 am

Even with the hugely lucrative TV Contracts that the NBA recently agreed to, the Hawks franchise has historically been a moribund franchise with a less than dependable fanbase. The last 2 ownership groups have suffered financial losses consistently over the years.

This season is going fantastically well, but the Hawks are a failing business when looking back at the last 5-10 years. With no marketable stars, there are no guarantees ratings, attendance revenue will continue to surge like they have recently.

And the Braves will tell you, being consistently good won't be enough to maintain interest. Sixteen straight division titles and by the end we couldn't even sell out home playoff games. And that was with Hall of Famers still coaching and playing.

It'll be interesting to see how much Brooklyn goes for. They similarly have no marketable star and lost way more money. But with that NYC Market and a brand new building, I wouldn't be surprised to see them go for twice as much as us.
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Re: Hawks have bid in place for 800 Million 

Post#4 » by td00 » Sat Feb 28, 2015 4:06 pm

Where's the big bidding war we were hearing about? Group after group tying themselves to big names.

That's still a big price, but now way the Clippers franchise has that much more value than the Hawks.

In the end, our bozo owners come out smiling.
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Re: Hawks have bid in place for 800 Million 

Post#5 » by PandaKidd » Mon Mar 2, 2015 7:40 pm

Wilkins on SVP and Russillo says couple of interesting things:

When asked about ownership and if he will be apart of it?
"That will all be taken care of VERY soon, sooner rather than later"

When asked about if Ferry should come back?
"I dont get involved in the politics, my main thing is if the fans support the team"
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Re: Hawks have bid in place for 800 Million 

Post#6 » by Hawk Eye » Mon Mar 2, 2015 9:55 pm

PandaKidd wrote:Wilkins on SVP and Russillo says couple of interesting things:

When asked about ownership and if he will be apart of it?
"That will all be taken care of VERY soon, sooner rather than later"

When asked about if Ferry should come back?
"I dont get involved in the politics, my main thing is if the fans support the team"


Sounds like cop out answers if you ask me. Wilkins is just avoiding the obvious answer(s)
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Re: Hawks have bid in place for 800 Million 

Post#7 » by PandaKidd » Wed Mar 4, 2015 7:15 pm

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12419 ... anta-hawks

Mark Rachesky, chairman of Lionsgate Entertainment and a noted distressed-asset investor, has emerged as the most recent bidder for the Atlanta Hawks, according to league sources.

Sources told ESPN.com that Rachesky, ‎who heads the investment firm MHR Fund Management, is a close associate of Atlanta Braves controlling owner John Malone, which is said to have sparked Rachesky's interest in the Hawks.

‎Rachesky is not known to have previously expressed interest in purchasing a sports franchise, but he is regarded as a protégé of activist investor Carl Icahn and brought Malone onto the Lionsgate board last month.

Sources say that his close ties to Malone have led some city officials to wonder whether Rachesky's bid for the Hawks, if successful, would ultimately lead to the NBA franchise pursuing a move out of its downtown Philips Arena home to an Atlanta suburb. The Braves announced late in 2013 that they will be relocating ‎to Cobb County, roughly 15 miles away from their Turner Field home downtown, starting with the 2017 season.

Groups and individuals interested in the buying the Hawks, as well as the team's current ownership, were required to signed nondisclosure agreements which prevent them from commenting on the sale process.‎

At All-Star Weekend in New York last month, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said of the Atlanta sale process: "That has moved along the course that we expected. There are several very interested parties who are looking at the team. It is on schedule."‎

Over the new two weeks, sources say, ‎representatives from the two companies chosen by the Hawks' outgoing ownership to oversee the sale and screen interested parties -- Goldman Sachs and Inner Circle Sports -- will be meeting directly with groups that have made nonbinding bids to purchase the Hawks.

Binding offers would then follow, with one source telling ESPN.com this week that at least one of the interested groups has made its willingness known to pay in excess of $900 million for the team.

In January, ESPN.com reported that former baseball home run king and Atlanta icon Hank Aaron has joined a group of current owners from the NBA, Major League Soccer and Italian soccer's storied Serie A in pursuing the Hawks. The group is spearheaded by Memphis Grizzlies minority owner and vice chairman Steve Kaplan, Indonesian billionaire sports and media magnates Erick Thohir and Handy Poernomo Soetedjo, and former Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien, who is the managing general partner of DC United in Major League Soccer.

‎Also in January, NBA.com and Bloomberg.com reported that former NBA stars Grant Hill and Junior Bridgeman ‎have teamed with USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo and son Bryan Colangelo, two-time NBA Executive of the Year, to form another known group bidding on the Hawks.

Rachesky's bid is expected to include a handful of minority investors, including Steve Starker, Randy Frankel and Jesse Itzler, who is a former rapper and recent Atlanta transplant who moved from New York to ‎Georgia last fall.

Sources say that Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins, meanwhile, is also expected to be a prominent member of a bid for the Hawks, though it remains to be seen whether Wilkins plans to join one of the groups known to be in the running or if he will make a run at the team with his own group.

‎The Hawks officially went on the market in January in the wake of embarrassing revelations last summer stemming from the exposure of racially insensitive emails and conversations within the organization.

The scandals prompted majority owner Bruce Levenson to immediately announce his intention to sell the team in September -- after the discovery of a an email he wrote in 2012 that contained offensive comments about the racial makeup of the team's fan base -- and also led to an indefinite leave of absence for general manager Danny Ferry, who has been forced to watch from afar while the group he has assembled has unexpectedly risen to the top of the Eastern Conference with a sparkling 48-12 record.

The Hawks were valued in 2014 by Forbes at $425 million, but that figure was circulated before Steve Ballmer's purchase of the Clippers for a staggering $2 billion in a bidding process that also featured a group led by Hill. The operating rights to Phillips Arena are also for sale, but attendance this season has still lagged in the bottom third of the league despite the Hawks' surprising on-court performance.

The Hawks' current owners, league officials and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed have been adamant about their intent to keep the franchise in Atlanta. TNT's David Aldridge recently reported that the Hawks would have to pay a $75 million fee to the city of Atlanta and Fulton County to free themselves from the club's Philips Arena lease before 2017, with additional fees required to pay off bonds from a 2010 refinancing.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported last month that the sale of the Hawks, once expected to be wrapped up by April, could now take until May or June.
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Re: Hawks have bid in place for 800 Million 

Post#8 » by HMFFL » Wed Mar 4, 2015 7:32 pm

This is very exciting.
I'm looking forward to this process coming to a close.
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Re: Hawks have bid in place for 800 Million 

Post#9 » by Hawk Eye » Wed Mar 4, 2015 9:17 pm

I just want this sale process to be over with already, I'm too anxious!
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Re: Hawks have bid in place for 800 Million 

Post#10 » by dms269 » Fri Mar 6, 2015 2:58 pm

Just a question....where would/could they possibly move? I doubt Cobb would be an option with the Braves now there. The North side seems like the logical choice due to it being fairly close to Cobb, North Fulton, Gwinnett, and Deklab with Cherokee and Forsyth not being too far off.
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Re: Hawks have bid in place for 800 Million 

Post#11 » by PandaKidd » Fri Mar 6, 2015 3:03 pm

uga_dawgs24 wrote:Just a question....where would/could they possibly move? I doubt Cobb would be an option with the Braves now there. The North side seems like the logical choice due to it being fairly close to Cobb, North Fulton, Gwinnett, and Deklab with Cherokee and Forsyth not being too far off.

YEARS ago there was rumors about the Hispanic buyer (the pizza guy who couldnt follow through with the financing) that was floating the idea of moving the Arena to the Spaghetti Junction location of that closed down Chevy plant. Basically it would be off a major highway (285/85). Would be easily accessible for Gwinette and Cobb residents even downtown could just ride up 85.

Obvious problems would be traffic.

But they were talking about this BEFORE the Thrashers left when 90% of the Thrasher fan base was from Gwinette and north of the City.

Id love to see a map of current Hawks season ticket holders like the Braves released and see where they are all located. I like the idea of the Hawks downtown, the Braves werent really DOWNTOWN they were south of I20 in a terrible area. Philips is a cool venue and I would hate to see them leave and cant think of anyplace for them to go to (cobb would be a disaster with the Braves already there).

IF the hawks left, it would prob seriously cripple MARTA.
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Re: Hawks have bid in place for 800 Million 

Post#12 » by dms269 » Fri Mar 6, 2015 3:32 pm

For me (Gwinnett) it's not easy to get Downtown. 85 south isn't bad, but when you hit the 400 merge it is bumper to bumper until the southside of the city. Of course I could take MARTA, but from where I live it really isn't feasible (MARTA doesn't go down 85, it is more or less down 141). While a merge to the north might be good (the old chevy plant at 85 and 141), it wouldn't be horrible for MARTA even though it is between two stations in Doraville and Chamblee.

Gwinnett already has the GBraves and the Thrashers so a move to Gwinnett would likely be out of the picture.
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Re: Hawks have bid in place for 800 Million 

Post#13 » by PandaKidd » Fri Mar 6, 2015 3:51 pm

Yeah I think at the time Spaghetti Junction was a viable option. Now, with the way they have completely revitalized downtown im not sure that is the best move.

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