CodeMonkey Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 My opinion about re-opening the bids is that it has less to do with the trust and a whole lot more to do with the NFL which would like a blockbuster price to push up the value of the other franchises. Perhaps. But theoretically anyway, the NFL should not be involved with the process yet.
vegas55 Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 Next time you sell your most valuable asset, let me know when you take less because "You don't need an extra million." This sale could set up their GREAT GRANDCHILDREN. Think about that before you question their intentions. The family is fully within their rights to try to get the best price. Are you kidding. The money Ralph already made in yearly profits would take care of his great grandchildren. When you reach the 1.3 billion Pegula offered, that's an amount of money which would take care of your children's children children children and well beyond. To attempt to squeeze yet even more , an extra 100 million or more, without any preference to WNY owner, is just pure greed. But typical of the worst owner in NFL history, beloved by many saps in WNY just because he kept the team here. Forget the terrible win/loss record, forget being so cheap so as to lose number one draft picks to the CFL and USFL; Ralph's a hero to many here because he "sacrificed" by keeping the team here, making the taxpayers pay for his stadium, and making well in excess of 1 billion dollars for his sacrifice. Yes, what a hero. And a huge middle finger to all of WNY by putting in place a process that gives zero preference to a WNY based owner, all for the sake of making YET more money.
GG Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 Why does it seem to you that they want the best bid from a group committed to Buffalo? Has any trustee said that was the case? Do we know if the trust documents require that? Even if they did, how would they even decide that? What does "committed to Buffalo" mean exactly? Given the stadium lease, no owner can leave Buffalo for quite sometime. How would an owner be "committed to Buffalo" if he is forced to keep the team here for awhile? Wouldn't being "committed to Buffalo" mean more than simply fulfilling the terms of what is a binding agreement? How would that commitment be demonstrated? Pinky swearing? An exchange of hostages? I certainly hope that the trustees are under some obligation to factor in keeping the team in Buffalo but I have zero actual facts that they are so obligated. Typically, the fiduciary duty of a trustee would obligate the trustee to maximize the value of the estate assets and that unfortunately means selling to the highest bidder. From everything that's been reported from people who have some insights into the situation, and can be corroborated by the way the auction has unfolded, it would appear that the trust's goal is to get the maximum price from a party that is committed to keeping the team in WNY. If the trust's mandate was to sell to the highest bidder, the auction would have been handled differently.
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 Agreed. They should sell the team for $25,000. It's only right. Sweet! I am getting my bid package together now! $25k cash plus I will wash Mary's car.
Iraq Vet Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) The trust wants huge money and they will get it. The question is... another 100 million worth hurting RCW legacy? RCW worked a lifetime for the Bills... Would Mary (who by all accounts is very classy) run for the money? If I were Pegulia... I tell the trust that field house name will be changed to Ralph and Mary Wilson field house and each parking lot will be named for the children. Ralph's office will be closed and never used again and leave everything just like he left it. Edited August 5, 2014 by Iraq Vet
Peter Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) Highest bidder: the Pegulas (in fact, bid higher than the purchase price of any NFL team in history) Bidder who will keep team in Buffalo: the Pegulas. Seems pretty simple to me. Edited August 5, 2014 by Peter
yungmack Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 FWIW, it keeps getting brought up that the trust has a fiduciary responsibility to get the most money possible. Though that's generally true, it is not a law. You can set a trust up in just about any way you want and you can make other requirements aside from money the primary ones. The trustees fiduciary responsibility would then be to those terms of the trust. Still, in this case, I would imagine that getting the most money from the sale of the Bills is at least close to the top of the requirements.
Jauronimo Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 Why does it seem to you that they want the best bid from a group committed to Buffalo? Has any trustee said that was the case? Do we know if the trust documents require that? Even if they did, how would they even decide that? What does "committed to Buffalo" mean exactly? Given the stadium lease, no owner can leave Buffalo for quite sometime. How would an owner be "committed to Buffalo" if he is forced to keep the team here for awhile? Wouldn't being "committed to Buffalo" mean more than simply fulfilling the terms of what is a binding agreement? How would that commitment be demonstrated? Pinky swearing? An exchange of hostages? I certainly hope that the trustees are under some obligation to factor in keeping the team in Buffalo but I have zero actual facts that they are so obligated. Typically, the fiduciary duty of a trustee would obligate the trustee to maximize the value of the estate assets and that unfortunately means selling to the highest bidder. Look who the Trustees are. Why appoint "Bills executive vice president of strategic planning Mary Owen, [and] Bills chief financial officer Jeff Littmann" both of whom have a vested interest in keeping the team in Buffalo, to the trust if that wasn't a part of the plan? Why structure the trust such that the winning bid requires a vote among trustees? Were the team intended to go to the highest bidder that could have easily been arranged. Still might be the case, but there's a mechanism that was out in place that gives two long time members of OBD a lot of say in who will be the next owner of the Bills. Maybe it doesn't matter if they're going to get **** canned as soon as the sale is complete? I would pick unaffiliated trustees were this thing to be handled purely on a transactional basis.
1B4IDie Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 I think that sports reporters should generally avoid talking about business issues. Benigni has no point. If the estate wanted a bidding war, it wouldn't have put onerous bidding conditions in the auction. Plus Benigni can actually get the NDA if he wanted. "I think, based on nothing but rumors of other reports who know nothing at all, that the Bills wanted a bidding war" even though every actual piece of evidence points the the trust did not want a bidding war. This is just a prime example of lazy reporting.
Best Player Available Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 Look who the Trustees are. Why appoint "Bills executive vice president of strategic planning Mary Owen, [and] Bills chief financial officer Jeff Littmann" both of whom have a vested interest in keeping the team in Buffalo, to the trust if that wasn't a part of the plan? Why structure the trust such that the winning bid requires a vote among trustees? Were the team intended to go to the highest bidder that could have easily been arranged. Still might be the case, but there's a mechanism that was out in place that gives two long time members of OBD a lot of say in who will be the next owner of the Bills. Maybe it doesn't matter if they're going to get **** canned as soon as the sale is complete? I would pick unaffiliated trustees were this thing to be handled purely on a transactional basis. Good points. Something tells me Littmann's parachute will make him a very, very wealthy man after the sale is completed. I doubt he is hurting today. But, it's Doubtful even in the slim event he would be retained, he would want to be. That, Could be true for Mary Owen's interest in remaining with the franchise after the sale too.
todd Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 Based on what I've read today, keeping the Bills in Buffalo is a big consideration regarding who wins the bid. That would be a deterrent for many bidders, because of the thought of earning more money in a different city.
montanafan Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 I am an investment banker and do mergers and acquisitions, although not the size of this deal. But the process is the same and appears to be going just as it should. Once a bidder is selected, the sale still has to go through a due diligence process, whereby the buyer can examine all aspects of the business (in this case the Bills organization) including complete financial disclosure. Oftentimes the sale price is renegotiated as the buyer has found some red flags or due diligence he/she didn't like. I believe from what I read that while money will talk, the final bidder will be the one that will also be most likely to keep the team in Buffalo.
Captain Hindsight Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 Are you kidding. The money Ralph already made in yearly profits would take care of his great grandchildren. When you reach the 1.3 billion Pegula offered, that's an amount of money which would take care of your children's children children children and well beyond. To attempt to squeeze yet even more , an extra 100 million or more, without any preference to WNY owner, is just pure greed. But typical of the worst owner in NFL history, beloved by many saps in WNY just because he kept the team here. Forget the terrible win/loss record, forget being so cheap so as to lose number one draft picks to the CFL and USFL; Ralph's a hero to many here because he "sacrificed" by keeping the team here, making the taxpayers pay for his stadium, and making well in excess of 1 billion dollars for his sacrifice. Yes, what a hero. And a huge middle finger to all of WNY by putting in place a process that gives zero preference to a WNY based owner, all for the sake of making YET more money. You are going to feel like an ass in October for this post.
Kirby Jackson Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 Are you kidding. The money Ralph already made in yearly profits would take care of his great grandchildren. When you reach the 1.3 billion Pegula offered, that's an amount of money which would take care of your children's children children children and well beyond. To attempt to squeeze yet even more , an extra 100 million or more, without any preference to WNY owner, is just pure greed. But typical of the worst owner in NFL history, beloved by many saps in WNY just because he kept the team here. Forget the terrible win/loss record, forget being so cheap so as to lose number one draft picks to the CFL and USFL; Ralph's a hero to many here because he "sacrificed" by keeping the team here, making the taxpayers pay for his stadium, and making well in excess of 1 billion dollars for his sacrifice. Yes, what a hero. And a huge middle finger to all of WNY by putting in place a process that gives zero preference to a WNY based owner, all for the sake of making YET more money. Congratulations!! Of the thousands of posts on the topic you managed to post the least informed and worst of all!!
nucci Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 You are going to feel like an ass in October for this post. I think he's an ass now.
Captain Hindsight Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 I think he's an ass now. You are not alone
DC Greg Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 Highest bidder: the Pegulas (in fact, bid higher than the purchase price of any NFL team in history) Bidder who will keep team in Buffalo: the Pegulas. Seems pretty simple to me. Uh huh. Seems pretty straightforward. Don't try to shake him down for another hundred mil. Let him use that to make the new stadium even more awesome than it's already going to be!
Dan Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 Highest bidder: the Pegulas (in fact, bid higher than the purchase price of any NFL team in history) Bidder who will keep team in Buffalo: the Pegulas. Seems pretty simple to me. The fact that the bid process is still ongoing would indicate that it's not that simple. Either Pegula wasn't the highest bid, or the highest in the history of the league, or something about the bid made them think someone doesn't want to keep the team in Buffalo, or there's something none of us know about the process being played out. In the end, all any of us have is speculation at this point.
Jauronimo Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) The fact that the bid process is still ongoing would indicate that it's not that simple. Either Pegula wasn't the highest bid, or the highest in the history of the league, or something about the bid made them think someone doesn't want to keep the team in Buffalo, or there's something none of us know about the process being played out. In the end, all any of us have is speculation at this point. Or perhaps its ongoing because it was always going to continue. First round of bidding is preliminary. Now all bidders will receive financial info from the Bills. They will have an opportunity to perform their due diligence and amend their offers accordingly. Pegula could have bid $10 billion but the process would have continued. The deadline Tuesday was regarded as a soft one, meaning other interested parties can still submit bids until a prospective owner is identified. The time, however, is growing shorter for outside groups to become involved. The next step is for groups who have been approved to advance is to meet with both Morgan Stanley and members of the estate to obtain the franchise's financial information. Bills President Russ Brandon also is expected to make a presentation to prospective bidders. Once that is done in the coming weeks, groups will then be asked to submit formal bids. The bidding process is unsealed, meaning Wilson's estate will have the ability to ask groups to increase their bids. http://espn.go.com/n...g-buffalo-bills or http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/football/nfl/bills/2014/07/29/buffalo-bills-bidders/13309941/ Edited August 5, 2014 by Jauronimo
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