They only have the right to walk away because the terms of the agreement have been violated. They were walking away from it completely. A buyout would create a new agreement. The Astros would not be able to walk. It's the same situation as if Comcast bought it. No one will buy out Jim Crane and then let him leave. He can leave for free right now.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Re court hearing today, I should note that Jim Crane also has said he would buy all of <a href="https://twitter.com/CSNHouston">@CSNHouston</a> if price is right.</p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/statuses/403622702964961281">November 21, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Crane and Comcast traded offers in September but were unable to agree. Don't think he and Alexander before now have talked buyouts.</p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/statuses/403622975313686528">November 21, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Crane won't win a bidding war for this network... and I bet he'd make a total ass of himself as being the "landlord" for the Rockets (Even more so than they have already just by being the majority shareholders).
They were able to walk from the broadcast agreement because they weren't paid for their broadcast rights. A buyout of equity would not NECESSARILY create a new broadcast agreement. They could do it that way, of course. But all CSN partners have to sell in CSN is their positions in CSN, subject to whatever agreements CSN has entered into. A buyout of partners' equity does not mean that creditors of the partnership don't still have their rights under their respective agreements as creditors. The Houston Astros are both a creditor and a partner. As creditor, they don't give up their rights under the current broadcast agreement simply because one of the partners of the debtor bought up the other partners' interests. But I'm assuming the parties would be willing to sit down and talk that through...and there's certainly no prohibition on the Astros agreeing to waive default for non-payment.
That's what Crane said... Make me an offer... He wants to sell his TV rights to the Rockets (who can afford to wait until the Network becomes profitable). Isgur isn't likely to let the Astros walk if Les puts up a good offer. And so much for the overnight guy getting a deal in place.
Would love to see an NHL team in Houston in my lifetime. But Les buying out Crane would be wonderful news. I wonder if if a minor league team would consider moving into the new Hofheinz pavilion?
Crane is asking for an offer of a buyout of his equity...which is what Alexander was talking about when he said he wanted to buy all the equity in CSN that he didn't currently own.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Astros will hold press conference at 11:30 a.m. Friday at Minute Maid Park in reference to the court filing by the club. Jim Crane to talk.</p>— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/statuses/403664327497904128">November 21, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>The Astros have filed an unspecified document in state court and will hold a news conference tomorrow to discuss it.</p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/statuses/403670556043526144">November 21, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Giles Kibbe, the Astros' general counsel, declined to comment on the nature of the filing, so it's unknown if it involves <a href="https://twitter.com/CSNHouston">@CSNHouston</a>.</p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/statuses/403670723077472256">November 21, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Harris County has an electronic filing system for its courts, but it is unknown if the document was filed electronically.</p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/statuses/403670856011755520">November 21, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>That being the case, details may not be known until tomorrow, either at or shortly before the Astros' 11:30 a.m. news conference.</p>— David Barron (@dfbarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/dfbarron/statuses/403671258329391104">November 21, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Apparently, because it's a filing with the state, this won't involve the bankruptcy case. Could it have something to do with the Triple A team he wants in The Woodlands/Conroe area?
It's not showing up in Harris County yet...I just searched...they take a while to image (it will be up sometime tomorrow, I'm sure) but.... The Astros filed a statement with the bankruptcy court saying that their ownership group, Houston Baseball Partners LLC, have filed an original petition alleging fraud and negligent misrepresentation against: McLane Champions LLC; Drayton McLane; Comcast Corp; NBCUniversal; and Jon Litner I'm not remotely surprised.
This is the link to the statement... don't think it's been posted yet. http://www.scribd.com/doc/186181350...Re-Lawsuit-Against-Drayton-McLane-and-Comcast
That's it, The Cat. Thought early on that there would be reps from Comcast that the ownership group would allege they relied on to their own detriment. Getting a statement from third parties this critical to the purchase price of the business is part of due diligence. Will be interesting to see if there's an email or some other communication from Comcast and/or McLane to ownership group before they bought...and how it was couched. That Litner was named personally may mean the communication came directly from him.
Out of curiosity, what would be the relevance of this in regard to the bankruptcy proceedings? It seems like if there was fraud, that would open the door to litigation of some sort, but I don't understand how it would relate to this case. Whether Comcast/Drayton lied or they just turned out to be wrong, it doesn't seem like it really changes the circumstances of the bankruptcy or lack thereof? This also seems like we might be crossing a bridge of no return here - its hard to see how an already dysfunctional partnership becomes functional if one party accuses another of fraud. That seems to suggest that the endgame here is less likely to involve CSN and the Astros working together in any way, but who knows.
Shouldn't affect the bankruptcy. CSN isn't a party to the state court suit. Comcast is...but Comcast isn't the allegedly bankrupt party; CSN-H is. I think that's been Crane's point all along. He's alluded to misrepresentations on more than one occasion. Litner being named personally is really interesting to me.
Might as well include MLB for letting him buy the team without having those pie in the sky carriage deals in place
Already pointed out but... http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/...rayton-mclane-comcast-and-nbc-claiming-fraud/
He was late and he missed that Litner got sued too! I'm kidding...he did a great job of covering the hearing. Most media don't do very well reporting on proceedings like that. EDIT: He must have been sent a copy of the petition by the Astros lawyers. He's quoting from it right now; but it's still not up on the Harris County District Clerk's website.
