Caps owner confident that process will work
Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has publicly responded to a claim by the estate of the late Abe Pollin that its portion of the Washington Wizards and Verizon Center can be taken to the open market for sale.
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Washington Sports & Entertainment had been negotiating with Leonsis and his company — Lincoln Holdings — to sell Pollin’s 56-percent share of the team, the arena and the local Ticketmaster franchise. The original negotiating window ended last week. But in an internal memo obtained by the Washington Post on Wednesday, Washington Sports president of business operations Peter Biche told company employees that Leonsis only has the contractual right to match any outside offers — not exclusive negotiating rights.
Leonsis, who along with his fellow Lincoln Holdings investors owns 44-percent of Washington Sports, disputed that claim in his personal blog — Ted’s Take — Thursday afternoon.
“I am very confident this process will move forward in the manner Mr. Pollin and I agreed to in 1999,” Leonsis wrote. “The last thing the Wizards need right now is more uncertainty. My partners and I are confident in the rights we have and will make sure to protect them.”
Those “rights,” according to Leonsis, include an appraisal process once the original negotiating window closed. Each side is to select an appraiser, who will set a value for the properties. Leonsis says Washington Sports has committed in writing to that process. If their values differ then a third appraiser is chosen to make a final determination. At that point, according to Leonsis, Lincoln Holdings can decide to buy at that price or allow Pollin’s estate to take the team to the open market. Even then Lincoln Holdings can match any subsequent outside offer. Neither representatives of Lincoln Holdings nor Washington Sports had further comment.
“The idea was to make it possible for us to do this transaction at a price that was fair to both sides,” Leonsis wrote of his original agreement with Pollin. “I’m not sure how or why someone would object to a process that is simply designed to arrive at a fair market value.”
