Rights to L.A. race are for sale

The operator of the Los Angeles Marathon is attempting to sell rights to the 23-year-old race to address an increasingly serious cash-flow crunch, a process that has generated interest among potential buyers but also raised questions about the event’s future.

Chicago-based Devine Racing Management LLC on Monday acknowledged publicly for the first time that the local race is on the sales block.

“Something definitive will get done in the next couple of days,” Devine Racing founder Chris Devine said Monday during a telephone interview. “It will allow us to clean up the balance sheets.”

Devine was referring to his company’s cash-flow problems, which have caused delayed payments or bounced checks for some of its contract employees, high-profile athletes, and some companies and government agencies that have provided goods and services for Devine Racing.

Devine declined to identify a possible buyer, but said he hoped to complete “a high, double-digit, million-dollar sales process.” He added that it “may include the L.A. Marathon.”

In a related development, Sports Business Journal on Monday reported that Devine Racing has agreed to sell the L.A. Marathon to Los Angeles media executives Russ Pillar and David Kingsdale. Devine was not immediately available to comment on the report. Pillar and Kingsdale declined to comment.

Pillar most recently served as vice chairman of the Los Angeles-based AVP, a professional volleyball league. He previously served as a top executive with Viacom Digital Media Group, CBS Internet Group and Virgin Entertainment Group. Kingsdale owns DLK Inc., a Westwood-based consulting firm.

The sports business publication also reported that, based on a prospectus Pillar and Kingsdale are circulating among potential investors, Devine Racing is seeking between $9 million and $12 million for the annual event.

Earlier this year, Falconhead Capital LLC, a New York-based investment firm, looked at a possible acquisition of the L.A. race but did not make an offer.

And, on Monday, Dallas-based U.S. Road Sports and Entertainment Group, which recently purchased the ING Miami Marathon, said in a news release that it “would have a deep and sincere interest in being involved in one of the great franchises in running if the opportunity presented itself.”

Word of a sale would be welcome news for some Devine Racing creditors. In recent months, the company:

* Was sued by a Los Angeles-based company that provided portable toilets used during the 2007 race. The civil suit filed on May 5 in Superior Court claims that Devine Racing has yet to pay So Cal Sanitation $33,667.83. Devine Racing declined to comment on the suit.

* Bounced checks to contract workers for this year’s L.A. Marathon, run on March 2, because insufficient funds were deposited in a payroll account shortly after the race.

* Stirred controversy in Las Vegas, where Devine Racing had fallen months behind on payments to at least a dozen vendors and the Nevada Highway Patrol in conjunction with the 2007 Las Vegas Marathon. On May 30, online shoe retailer Zappos withdrew as the Las Vegas race’s title sponsor. Zappos spokesman Chris Peake said during a telephone interview that the company was “extremely disappointed with everything that’s gone down with Devine Racing.”

On May 10, Devine said in a statement that his company intended to pay all of its outstanding debts in Las Vegas. On Monday, he said that the planned recapitalization would address “companywide” balance-sheet problems.

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greg.johnson@latimes.com