A billionaire investor who recently purchased a large Montana ranch has now come to the rescue of the Outdoor Channel, after fears that an anti-gun Obama donor was taking aim at the media outlet in an attempt to silence several of the nation’s leading pro-gun media firms.
Denver Nuggets’ owner Stan Kroenke has now come to the rescue of the Outdoor Channel, outbidding the same firm that turned Missoula, Montana’s Barrett Productions, as The Daily Caller reports:
The Outdoor Channel, a leading hunting and fishing-themed television network, announced Thursday that it plans to sell itself to billionaire sports mogul Stan Kroenke’s company, destroying a merger deal with InterMedia Outdoor Holdings, which is owned by major Obama donor and Huffington Post blogger Leo Hindery Jr.’s private equity fund InterMedia Partners.
Kroenke Sport and Entertainment has purchased the Outdoor Channel for $227 million in an all-cash deal. The Outdoor Channel board considered Kroenke’s bid a “superior proposal” after Kroenke swooped in this week to outbid Hindery.
The Daily Caller first reported last week that Hindery is in the process of buying up and consolidating America’s leading pro-gun media outlets as part of a business plan that has already led to the gutting and virtual destruction of media facilities like the Petersen’s Hunting studio in Minnesota and Barrett Productions in Montana.
As Variety.com reports:
Billionaire Kroenke’s Sports & Entertainment holds Colorado sports teams the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, Colorado Rapids and NDP Lacrosse, the Pepsi Center and Dick’s Sporting Goods. His wife Anna is the daughter of Wal-mart co-founder Bud Walton.
Forbes also recently reported on Kroenke’s purchase of the Broken O ranch in Montana.
It was only a matter of time before a cash-flush investor bought the Broken O Ranch. Asking $132.5 million in cold hard cash, the 124,000 acre Montana farm is one of the largest agricultural operations in the Rocky Mountain West, offering an alluring investment opportunity to those bullish on soft commodities. Turns out one American billionaire agrees.
“Bill Moore obviously had the vision, expertise and wherewithal to assemble one of the finest cattle and farming operations in the United States. Mr. Kroenke looks forward to building on that incredible legacy,” said Sam Connolly, general manager of Kroenke Ranches, in a statement.
Now that Kroenke appears to have come to the rescue for the Outdoor Channel, the question remains for those of us here in Montana- can Kroenke buy Barrett Productions and restore the Missoula media firm from its current ghost town status?