A deal to purchase the Sacramento Kings and move them to Seattle won’t be seeing the light of day anytime soon.
In a court hearing Tuesday morning, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein granted a motion to seal the documents of the sales offer from hedge fund manager Chris Hansen. David Flemmer, the trustee of Bob Cook’s 7-percent stake in the franchise, received details of the Seattle deal in a confidentiality agreement with the Maloof family earlier this month.
Additional documents summarizing the Kings’ limited partnership agreement are also staying closed as part of today’s ruling.
“We’ve received no opposition to the motion,” said lawyer Christopher Sullivan, who is serving Flemmer as “special litigation counsel” and whose duties include protecting the minority owners’ right of first refusal. “I think this is an important motion just to make sure that we have everything in place if we need to take some action within the next 30 days.”
An auction to purchase Cook’s stake in the franchise is scheduled for mid-April and coincides with the NBA Board of Governors’ meetings in New York. However, Flemmer and his attorney Donald Fitzgerald noted in court today that they might accelerate the sales process.
“There is lots of activity,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re encouraged by that. And we believe that we’re in a good position to be marketing this asset at this point in time.”
The next scheduled hearing on Cook’s bankruptcy case is scheduled for March 27.
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