Owners Say Belkin Fixed The Numbers

((HT: Bloomberg via Howard Bloom))Steven Belkin, who is suing his former co-owners of Atlanta’s professional basketball and hockey teams, manipulated the process for valuing his stake in a bid to force partners to buy him out at an inflated price, their lawyer said.Jim Shea, representing seven owners who wanted to buy Belkin’s 30 percent stake in the Atlanta Hawks and Thrashers, said today that Belkin “carefully screened and selected the appraisers” and pressured them to come up with the highest possible price.Belkin “directed the appraisers to just look at the assets, not the obligations,” Shea told Judge Durke Thomson in closing arguments of a three-month trial in state court in Rockville, Maryland.Belkin agreed in August 2005 to sell his stake, sparking a 3 1/2-year legal battle over how much it’s worth. Citigroup Inc. first estimated the value at $288 million. JPMorgan Chase & Co. later put it at $463 million. Attorneys for the partners argued at trial that the stake was wor...