The trustee overseeing the bankruptcy auction of a 7 percent stake in the Sacramento Kings might accelerate the sale, the trustee's lawyer said today.
The auction is currently set for April but wouldn't be finalized until sometime in May - after the NBA decides whether to approve the sale of controlling interest in the team to a group of investors from Seattle.
Trustee David Flemmer and his lawyer Donald Fitzgerald have said whoever buys the 7 percent could have right to match the Seattle group's offer for the Maloof family's controlling share. If so, the auction could be pivotal to the battle for the Kings.
Fitzgerald said at a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing that Flemmer might choose to step up the timetable for holding the auction.
"There's lots of activity," he said in court. "It's a little like a water polo game. Things are calm on surface but there's a lot going on underneath."
Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein agreed to seal a collection of documents furnished by the Maloofs, including the agreement to sell their controlling interest to a group led by Seattle investor Chris Hansen.
The Maloofs struck a deal that values the franchise at $525 million. That implies they will get $341 million for the 65 percent they and business partner Bob Hernreich control.
Sacramento officials are assembling a competing bid that would be submitted to the NBA. Two investors, Ron Burkle and Mark Mastrov, are widely believed to be the two men who would bid on Sacramento's behalf. Mayor Kevin Johnson could officially reveal their names at his State of the City speech Thursday night.
The duo also is working on a deal for a new downtown arena - a critical piece of the proposal that would be sent to the NBA.
The league's Board of Governors is expected to vote in mid-April on the Seattle proposal. If that deal is accepted, the team would move to Seattle in time for next season.
• Read more articles by Dale Kasler
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.