Ownership Structure of Pacific Life Open Might Change

The future of the Pacific Life Open tennis tournament seems to be changing on a daily basis.

One thing appears clear: Even if the event remains at Indian Wells, there apparently will be an altered ownership structure. Now, the tournament’s ownership is split evenly between PM Sports (Charlie Pasarell and Ray Moore) and the Cleveland-based International Management Group.

On Tuesday, Moore told the Desert Sun that he and Pasarell are leading a “management buyout” and assembling a syndicate, which would mean IMG’s exit.

“All agreements have been made. Agreement has been reached with IMG, but now the syndicate have to conduct their due diligence,” Moore told The Times on Wednesday. “That can take anywhere from 30 to 90 days. They’re looking at the financials, the performance of the tournament.”

IMG officials were not available for comment.

Completion of the deal does not solve the outstanding issue. It “doesn’t deal with the big issue of refinancing our debt,” Moore said of the massive debt load on the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. “It hasn’t cured that problem.”

Moore was much more optimistic than in remarks at a meeting with the editorial board of the Desert Sun. Moore told the Sun that they hit a standstill in negotiations with Indian Wells city officials and that they were weighing a deal from an overseas buyer.

So, why the shift in tone a day later?

Moore said he spoke to Indian Wells Mayor Percy Byrd on Wednesday morning.

“I was unaware of the other moves the city had made,” Moore said. “Hopefully, it will come to pass and we don’t go back into stalemate. Percy Byrd has stepped up and it looks very good. He’s come with a great proposal.... They’re putting an initiative in front of all the cities in the Coachella Valley.

“Which is really the way it should be done. My frustration with living here in the Coachella Valley is it’s a small community but you deal with nine different civic authorities and that’s always difficult. There’s no way you’re going to get nine mayors to agree.”

In addition to the surge of civic activity, other groups are waiting in the wings. A tennis source said there has been more than one offer to purchase the tournament and that one group was based in Shanghai.

Closer to home could be another solution: the Anschutz Entertainment Group.

When it was reported by The Times last month that the tournament might be sold and/or moved after 2006, U.S. Tennis Assn. President Franklin Johnson raised the possibility of assistance from his organization.

That led to AEG, a business partner of the USTA as owner of the women’s JPMorgan Chase tournament at Home Depot Center in Carson. Tim Leiweke, AEG president and chief executive, said USTA involvement at Indian Wells probably would trigger an expanded relationship.

“If the USTA is going to be involved, we’d probably want to have some kind of partnership, due to the fact they’re our partner here,” Leiweke said last week.

“So I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m competing in any way with our own partner.”

Moore said they haven’t had any direct talks with AEG, adding, “We haven’t gone much further with the USTA at this time because we first have to solve our problem and once we do, we can maybe go back to the USTA.”