AEG gets low-ball bids

GLASS HALF PHIL: The latest bids for AEG are coming in at the low end of the expected price range and well below the company’s lofty asking price, the N.Y. Post reports in a story amusingly headlined “Low Ball Hits AEG: Aw, Anschutz! Bids are under $7B.” The company was expected to fetch $6-8 billion, although the seller signaled it was seeking somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 billion. At least two suitors that made it to the second round of the auction—Guggenheim Partners and Qatar Sports Investment, in a partnership with Tom Barrack’s Colony Capital—offered less than $7 billion, sources told Claire Atkinson. “There were two bids,” said a person close to the process, who predicted Phil Anschutz “will walk if he doesn’t get his price.” A representative for AEG and Blackstone Advisory Group, which is handling the sale, said the bidding is proceeding as planned. But finding a buyer for AEG is considered a long shot, Atkinson notes. Some insiders suggest a breakup is the only way to sell it. (2/22a)