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AOL Time Warner Secures Sports Team Deal

Posted on: Tuesday, 16 September 2003, 06:00 CDT

AOL Time Warner ended talks with a Texas businessman for its professional sports teams in Atlanta, instead choosing a group of buyers for the Hawks and Thrashers that includes a family link to former owner Ted Turner. The deal does not include the Atlanta Braves.

AOL Time Warner had negotiated with Dallas auto dealer David McDavid since April, but the company called a news conference Tuesday to announce it is selling the hockey Hawks, basketball Thrashers and operating rights to the teams' home, Philips Arena, to an investment group.

A person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press Monday night that the investment group includes Boston businessman Steve Belkin, who was unsuccessful in his previous pursuit of an NBA expansion team in Charlotte, and several Atlantans, including businessmen Michael Gearon Sr. and Michael Gearon Jr. and attorney Rutherford Seydel. The source spoke on condition of anonymity.

Seydel is the son-in-law of Turner, who owned the NBA's Hawks and NHL's Thrashers - as well as baseball's Atlanta Braves - before ceding control to AOL Time Warner.

Gearon Sr. has been associated with the Hawks for 26 years. He was president of the Hawks for nine years until 1986, when he was named the team's board chairman. Belkin founded the Trans National Group, a direct response marketing and investment company.

AOL Time Warner is selling the teams to help reduce its $24 billion debt.

"We continue to have the highest professional regard for David McDavid and the McDavid Group, with whom we worked in good faith for the past several months," the company said.

The decision surprised McDavid, who expected a news conference as soon as Tuesday to announce his own purchase.

AOL Time Warner also has expressed an interest in selling the Atlanta Braves, who are not included in this deal. The Braves, which would be sold with their stadium, Turner Field, are seen as the most valuable of the teams.

No price had been announced for the Hawks and Thrashers.

AOL's Turner Broadcasting division, which runs the teams, entered exclusive talks in April with McDavid to buy the Hawks and Thrashers, along with operating rights to Philips Arena. The negotiations stretched longer than expected, ending McDavid's rights to exclusivity.

Recently, the negotiations were complicated by a provision in the Philips Arena bond sale, which uses the Hawks as a form of collateral.

When the arena was built with government-backed bonds, Turner Broadcasting put up the Hawks as collateral up to a limit of $60 million, in case the company defaulted on an obligation to make the annual bond payments of about $12 million over 30 years.

To complete the deal, AOL Time Warner likely will have to replace the collateral.

McDavid is a former minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks. He has attempted to buy other NBA teams, including the Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic and Vancouver Grizzlies. Earlier this year, he had discussions about buying the NHL's Dallas Stars.

In December, Belkin led a group that included NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird that was denied a chance to buy the Charlotte franchise.

Ted Turner owned the three Atlanta teams, and he maintained a role in running the franchises after Time Warner merged with Turner Broadcasting. After the AOL-Time Warner merger, Turner lost his management role.

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Business writer Harry R. Weber in Atlanta contributed to this report.

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