Group Finally Sells Nuggets, Avs

Ascent Entertainment Group Inc. has agreed to sell the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche and the teams' future home, the Pepsi Center.

The sale will be to a partnership controlled by Bill Laurie and his wife, Wal-Mart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie of Columbia, Mo.

Charlie Lyons, currently chief executive officer of Ascent Entertainment, will become president of the partnership and will own an interest in the partnership, the company said Monday.

The deal includes $260 million in cash and about $140 million in financing obligations for the Pepsi Center, Ascent said.

Closing on the transaction is set for June 30. Lyons will continue as CEO of Ascent Entertainment Group until the closing, after which he will become president of the new sports company.

Laurie, a former basketball player at Memphis State, and Walton own Crown Center Farms in Columbia, which raises quarter horses and Appaloosas.

The transaction is subject to the approval of the NBA, NHL, and the City and County of Denver.

Ascent acquired its ownership in the Nuggets through a series of transactions from 1989 to 1992 at a total cost of $60.2 million and acquired the Avalanche in 1995 at a cost of $75.8 million.

Ascent's equity investment in the Pepsi Center and related development property is approximately $25 million, not including the arena indebtedness.

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