The auction could pit the Seattle group that has already made an offer for majority control of the team against a local competing ownership group that could be publicly identified by next week.
The other minority owners of the team will have the first chance to match the winning bid for developer Bob Cook's shares. If none of them do, the Maloof and Hernreich partnership could match the offer.
Matching the offer could be important depending on the language of the deal between the Seattle investors and the Maloofs.
Attorneys for the Trustee in the bankruptcy case believe the
minority owners have right of first refusal in that deal as
well.
A Sacramento group could become minority owner through the
auction and then majority owner by matching the Seattle offer to
the Maloofs.
Attorneys have asked for -but not received- details of the
deal.
A federal bankruptcy court judge has agreed to allow the
auction of Cook's seven percent share of the Kings on April
9th.