Sale Close to Final

[Iman]

I heard on Fox Sports South tonite that David McDavid is coming to Atlanta on Wednesday and things are getting close!!

[capstone21]

Good, lets hope its true. Get our lineup settled. Resign JT and Ira. I think we also need a veteran SG too. With the Bulls after Pippen Ira will hopfully resign...we need good bench role players and he fits the bill. He will play backup SF and if Dog is traded his role will become even more important.

JT/DD

Diaw/Hansen/Veteran

Dog/Ira

SAR/Hendu

Theo/Nazr

Its a good lineup if everyone is healthy.

[jeddelong]

McDavid: 'It's practically a done deal'

By TIM TUCKER

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

David McDavid plans to come to Atlanta Wednesday, hoping to finally complete negotiations with AOL Time Warner on the purchase of the Hawks, Thrashers and Philips Arena operating rights.

"We're coming up there hoping to tie a bow on it," McDavid said Tuesday from his Dallas office. "I'm from the old school. A deal's not done until it's done; anything can blow up until everybody has signed the line, but I'm sitting here thinking it's practically a done deal.

"We hope to leave there with a deal done [Wednesday night] or Thursday. ... We're not coming up there just to visit Atlanta, put it that way."

AOL seems similarly optimistic. "We're meeting with David and his group to resolve some remaining issues on Wednesday," said Greg Hughes, a spokesman for Turner Broadcasting, the AOL Time Warner division that includes the teams. "We're confident and committed to the deal being completed very soon."

Early last week, McDavid said a few "crucial" obstacles stood in the way of finishing the deal. However, he said Tuesday that his and AOL's negotiators have subsequently made much progress in resolving those obstacles.

What remains now, he said, "are various and sundry things. I can't even tell you what they are; my attorneys and CPAs know."

But McDavid cautioned that unexpected snags always can develop "in a deal of this size," and he wasn't sure how long it might take to get the final points of an agreement, if reached, into writing.

Even a full accord between McDavid and AOL would not mean an immediate transfer of Hawks and Thrashers ownership. Approval by the NBA and NHL, expected to be routine, would still be required but could take weeks. That would be followed by the transaction's closing, at which point the teams would become officially McDavid's.

McDavid said Tuesday, as he has throughout the process, that he foresees no problem regarding financing of the deal. "Our lenders have told us there's not going to be [a problem]," the Texas auto dealer said.

McDavid will be accompanied to Atlanta by his brother-in-law and business partner, Steve Dieb, who also expressed optimism Tuesday that the long negotiations with AOL are near completion.

"They're excited; we're excited; we're almost there," Dieb said.

McDavid signed a letter of intent on April 30 to buy the teams and the Philips rights, and at the time both he and AOL expected the deal to be completed by June 30. People involved in the negotiations have attributed the delay mainly to the complexities of the transaction, particularly in disentangling the economics of the two teams and arena rights from the rest of the AOL empire.

"It's been a mind-boggling process," McDavid said Tuesday. "It's certainly been a grueling transaction to get through."

[Traceman]

I do question how much money this guy has though. I may be wrong but I don't recall hearing Arthur Blank talking about having to finance anything when he bought the Falcons and he paid CONSIDERABLY more for the Falcons than McDavid is paying for the Hawks, Thrashers and Philips Areana.

[Gray Mule]

Notice that we must have approval of the Hockey & N.B.A.

leagues to make it official and that could take weeks !!

Meanwhile, we wait -- and wait -- and wait.

If the leagues have any love and/or respect for these

two Atlanta teams, they will get off their duff and

quickly vote on this matter, once the sale becomes

official, which should happen this week.

To delay it until the first of September or later would

certainly stink, but they could do just that. I hope not.

Financing? On a deal this big to a person with money,

I look at it like a peon like myself buying a new car.

If I had to pay cash, then I'm unable to do it. How many

new cars would be sold if it was required that only cash

be paid and you couldn't borrow any money to do the

deal? Some could do that. They have the money or

could soon get it. Most of us don't. We finance.

Hurry up and wait-- and wait -- and wait!

[jeddelong]

Without league approval, I believe that McDavid can begin to be the unofficial owner. That means we can add some certainity particularly to the GM and Coaching hunt. AOL may still be the owner officially; however, since the sale is approved by them, they will undoubtedly defer to McDavid. The worst is over.

[TheDude]

i was worried about that also graymule... sounds hunky dorey and then you realize it still has to be approved, by both leagues no doubt..

but i think jeddelong saved my stressing though. if he can then make decisions because aol will let him, then that would be phat...

[JaHawk10]

Yeah getting the leagues to approve the sale is a mere formality. As long as McDavid is the "acting" owner, we can begin to make personell moves. I still think Knight should man up and start doing this anyway. Odds are, McDavid will keep him as our GM anyways...

J

[Hawksman]

He is very confident. That impresses me. He will do well.