Here are a few bullet points stemming from Wednesday’s about-face on the park’s sale:
- Don’t pay a lot of attention to reports that Jerry Murphy’s offer “expired” Wednesday. It didn’t, and it will be a couple of days before that statement can accurately be made. Murphy’s deal may be on life support, but it’s still on the table. Murphy claimed Wednesday he’s got the money to close the deal. Fine. Let’s see it.
- A tip of the cap to the park’s bankers for consistency: They rushed into this deal with Etheredge, and now they’re rushing out of it, too.
- You’d think that common courtesy would dictate a call to Jerry Murphy to say, “Hey, we’re going another direction because we think you’ve overplayed your hand here.” But on the other hand, Murphy and his partners have clearly overestimated their leverage as a sole bidder with a bunch of anxious bankers who didn’t have a clue when to hold them, but are pretty certain they know when to fold them. Saying you need an extension to close a deal is one thing; failing for days to file paperwork in U.S. Bankruptcy Court asking for same is quite another.
- Interesting to hear Park City officials state publicly – for almost a year – that reviving the park was its best possible use, then throw together a public meeting in a couple of hours to set the stage for another buyer. The bankers might not be the only anxious players in this deal.
- Wink Hartman knows oil, retail, real estate and football. OK, maybe not football. But he doesn’t have a track record of doing bad deals. And with retail the rumored use of the park land, it’s hard – initially – to see a down side to that.
- Finally, don’t bet a bunch of your money on Wednesday’s meeting being the final chapter in Wild West World’s story. Why do I get the sense that there are more plot twists coming?