Celtics to pay shareholders $25 to $35 per share - AP

[CeltsSteve@xxxxxxx]

Celtics to pay shareholders $25 to $35 per share from planned sale of team 

By Justin Pope, Associated Press 

BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics said Monday that shareholders, who own 48 
percent of the team, would receive $25 to $35 per share from the $360 million 
planned sale of the team announced last month.The price could offer a 
more-than 200-percent premium over the $11.35 closing price when trading on 
the stock was halted pending news of the sale last month.

But the approximately $67 million to $95 million it would provide for 
shareholders is well short of 48 percent of the sale price of the team, which 
would amount to $173 million.Shareholders will get their proper proportion, 
but deductions will have to be made to cover corporate taxes and bond 
payments that come due in 2038, according to a senior Celtics executive, who 
asked not to be identified.The Celtics are 52-percent controlled by a 
partnership controlled by Paul Gaston, and 48 percent by a publicly traded 
company owned mostly by fans with a handful of shares in the team, bought 
more as a souvenir than an investment.

Last month, venture capitalists Stephen Pagliuca and Wycliffe Grousbeck, and 
Grousbeck's father Irving, a cable magnate, announced plans to pay $360 
million to buy out Gaston's share and purchase from the publicly traded 
company its stake in the team.The deal left shareholders, however, confused 
about what if anything they would receive for their shares, which began 
trading publicly in 1986.Shareholders who declined to transfer into the 
partnership during a 1998 reorganization received a debenture for each share, 
which is essentially a bond with a $20 face value that comes due in 2038 and 
must be provided for.

But one shareholder said he didn't buy the team's arguments about the 
debenture and said shareholders should have gotten more money.

"I don't think that should be factored in the sale price," said James Dailey 
of Hamden, Conn., on Monday. "I don't think that's fair or just."

The Celtics executive said the team decided to announce the expected range 
shareholders would receive because of confusion about how much they would get 
out of the deal. The team had been criticized and even sued by one investor 
group for failing to disclose details of the sale. 

CeltsSteve