Tavares Skeptical of Bid by Nicholas

The president of Disney’s sports division said he believes a group led by Orange County high-tech billionaire Henry T. Nicholas III will not buy the Anaheim Angels and Mighty Ducks.

Nicholas and his Broadcom Corp. co-founder, Henry Samueli, head an investment group that has discussed the potential purchase of the two Disney teams for months.

“Do I believe the Broadcom deal is dead? Yes,” Anaheim Sports President Tony Tavares said.

Neither Nicholas nor anyone representing his group has notified Disney of a withdrawal from negotiations, Tavares said. He based his belief, he said, on a prolonged silence from the potential buyers after a series of extensive discussions.

“When you walk like a tire kicker, you talk like a tire kicker and you act like a tire kicker, you’re probably a tire kicker,” he said. “I think it’s been over for a long time.”

Broadcom officials had no comment on Tavares’ remarks.

The Nicholas group remains interested in buying the teams but is undecided, a source close to the negotiations said.

Although the two sides have discussed a purchase price close to $450 million, a variety of issues could make any deal with Disney difficult. For instance, Ogden Corp.’s decision two weeks ago to sell its entertainment division could complicate a deal in which a buyer of the Ducks would inherit an Arrowhead Pond lease with Ogden.

Since The Times reported Aug. 13 that Nicholas had been approached about investing in the Angels and Mighty Ducks, Disney has received numerous inquiries from other potential buyers. Disney has focused on the Nicholas group for months, but the company may now be receptive to talking with others, sources said.

Robert Caporale, chairman of the Boston sports brokerage firm Game Plan LLC, said Thursday he had talked with Tavares recently to relay interest from other potential buyers. Caporale declined to identify those parties.

In the meantime, Nicholas and Samueli have hastened to reassure wary investors a purchase of the Angels and Ducks would not distract Broadcom executives from the highly competitive computer-chip business.

Broadcom stock has fallen more than $11 per share, or 9%, since the first report of Nicholas’ interest in the teams. The NASDAQ index of computer stocks is up 7% over the same time, although analysts suggest the possible sports buy explains little of the Broadcom drop. The falling price, analysts say, reflects greater concern over the recent acquisition of General Instruments, one of Broadcom’s largest customers, by Motorola and over the Taiwan earthquake that damaged many plants where computer chips are manufactured.

In March 1996, Tavares called a news conference to declare Disney’s deal to buy the Angels was dead. Three weeks later, the deal was done.

So do these Tavares comments represent a negotiating ploy, an attempt to accelerate talks with the Nicholas group? Former Angel president Richard Brown, who negotiated for the Autry family when it sold the team to Disney, won’t jump to that conclusion.

In 1996, Tavares’ declaration may have helped Disney build public support for a more favorable stadium renovation agreement with the city of Anaheim. Disney already had reached agreement with the Autrys but had struggled to complete a deal with the city.

“You were dealing with a public entity with very public negotiations,” Brown said. “In the current case, negotiations have been kept private, so public leverage would seem to be ineffective.”

Two weeks ago, at the baseball owners’ meetings in Cooperstown, N.Y., Tavares said negotiations had lasted for about four months.

Major league baseball officials are known to be dismayed and puzzled by the lengthy talks in the absence of a formal request to examine the Angels’ financial records. If the Nicholas group were truly serious, these officials have suggested, Disney already would have asked permission to share confidential financial information, presumably of interest to any potential buyer. Even that step would be preliminary; in past franchise sales, some teams have received permission to open their books to more than one potential buyer.

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ANGELS 5, OAKLAND 4

Chuck Finley didn’t get the decision, but a big one confronts him. Page 4