Still no official word on Tom Hicks hiring Barclays Capital to find a buyer for Liverpool FC. But last night, Bloomberg News posted a story that says creditors, led by Monarch Alternative Capital, may throw up a legal roadblock as Hicks tries to complete the sale of the first-place Texas Rangers to Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan's group.
According to the piece, the creditors are threatening a bankruptcy filing if they don't get more money out of the $570 million Greenberg's said to be paying Hicks Sports Group -- like $30 million more. That's because, according to Bloomberg, "less than half of about $570 million in sale proceeds would go to the group owed for loans," and that's unacceptable. One month ago, The Wall Street Journal reported that lenders were upset Hicks wants to keep as much as $90 million from the sale -- thanks, in large part, to the sale of 153 of the 195 acres around the Ballpark in Arlington and Cowboys Stadium owned by Hicks's Ballpark Real Estate, L.P.
It was exactly one year ago this month that news broke of Hicks's defaulting on $525 million in loans; later the same day he started looking for investors, before finally putting the team on the market. Greenberg and Hicks had hoped to have the deal done by Opening Day. Earlier this month, Greenberg pushed back the date to April 19.
Via Lisa LeMaster, Hicks's spokesperson, Hicks Sports Group has released a statement that reads, in full:
"Hicks Sports Group has worked diligently with Major League Baseball and HSG's lenders over the past six months and brought to the table outstanding potential buyers for the Texas Rangers. HSG is committed to the transaction with a group of prominent local investors led by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan. At this time it is entirely in the hands of Major League Baseball, the lenders, and the selected ownership group to resolve their differences and allow for an orderly transition."Kevin Sullivan, the former Mavs and White House spokesman now working with Greenberg, tells Bloomberg that "the discussions are between the Hicks Sports Group and the creditors. Chuck says good things are worth waiting for."
