Minor makes $200 mil. bid on Maryland racetracks
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While his $31 million Landmark Hotel faces an indefinitely long work stoppage while he slugs it out with his lender in court, Internet entrepreneur and Charlottesville native Halsey Minor has reportedly made a $200 million bid to buy a collection of Maryland racetracks, including Baltimore’s 139-year-old Pimlico Race Course, home to the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, the Preakness. Pimlico’s current owner Magna Entertainment Corporation has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That’s not to say Minor has the cash on hand. Minor tells the Baltimore Sun that in order to make the deal happen, he would sell off some of his assets. In addition to the $200 million purchase, Minor would also either buy or re-structure the company’s remaining $225 million debt. A judge will hold a hearing on Minor’s and other bids in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware on Wednesday, April 15.
–updated Monday, April 6 at 10:30am
So…isn’t this confirmation that he still has $?
And he’s just a ____________ (fill in the blank w/your own epithet)
So when will the lawsuit follow this purchase?
FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED ALREADY @#$!%^*!
Lawyers must love this guy’s money.
Dear James,
Not exactly. See the addition above about having to sell off some of his assets.
Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Lindsay Barnes
RE the landmark deal… it seems to me that a REAL man would have kept up with the payments and sued for restituion in the courts.
That is not only the proper legal procedure but the proper way to preserve the family name.
If he had been conned into buying a car that was a lemon he should seek redress in the courts but STILL make the payments.
Too bad for him that he created a situation where most people assume he is all talk.
As long as he takes that skeleton with him when he leaves, I’ll say good riddance.
Who says he stopped payments before the bank pulled the plug? Minor claims the manager, Danielson, who had been trying to put this hotel deal together for years when he finally sold the idea to to Minor, lied to him about the costs. Halfway into the project, he tells Minor the cost has gone way up. That is Minor’s version of the story and I think it deserves equal play.
Additional facts: contractors were left with unpaid invoices in this case and the Ice Park 13 years before. The Ice Park also involved a very wealthy partner & Danielson. Sure, Minor is a more colorful character, but commenters should see the facts are about 50/50 at this point, from what we know of it from the news. And that is all I know of it.
http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=121304064644348&z_Issue_ID=1892510061667950&ShowArchiveArticle_ID=1892510061683579
Ethical businessman, are you saying he should have sunk an additional $20 million into the project, if it went down as he says? That would have been $20m cash, because it was in the middle of the banking crisis that the bank pulled the plug and the giant cost overrun came to his attention. Would you have been “ethical” enough to do that, and then try to sue Danielson and the bank afterwards? And hope they had the scratch?
What I am saying is that he should have either made the payments or sought an injunction and escrowed the payments with a third party until things are resolved.
When you are renting a home and the landlord does not fix the heat you still face eviction if the rent is not paid. The proper thing to do is to hire a lawyer and sue for specific performance but give the lawyer the cash to prove TO THE WORLD that you are not just crying a river to get out you obligations.
Sorry to say, he looks like an ass when he could easily have done it differently.
If he stands to lose the 6 million he has already put into it then he should protect that through proper channels.
If he wants to restore the family name then SHOW US THE MONEY.
Since the building is not yet completed then the money is not yet spent. So buy them out and find a new partner.
The judge refused to protect him. Do you think the judge would have ruled the same way if Minor had brought in certified funds for his share and offered to let the court hold them until things are resolved?
I have no axe to grind, I am just giving my opinion of what a truly upstanding man who wants to preserve his good name (and money) would do.
th old saying goes… ” if their some doubt, just whip it out”
[...] Hoskeletor’s father, Halsey Minor is bidding $200 million for the Preakness race track.� WTF. [UNCUS] [...]
Yeah, I don’t know either. I just read a detailed timeline the other weekly has assembled:
http://c-ville.com/index.php?cat=141404064435450&ShowArticle_ID=11800604093972630
The judges decision not to stop foreclosure is that last line, but he refused to stop Minor’s suit against Silverton.
To tell you the truth, your “ethical businessman” thing sounds like P.R. Sorry if I’m wrong about your intent, but I just don’t hear of a lot of $20m ripoffs where the victim keeps paying, whether in escrow or not. If he is a victim. I can read the timeline either way.
[...] Post. Calling Minor a “smart, innovative optimist,” Meyer profiles Minor’s attempt to purchase the holdings of Magna Entertainment, a bankrupt company which owns several racetracks, including Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course. [...]