In its 2022 bankruptcy filing, Monte and Doris Miller-led Rocking M Media noted that its largest debt segment was a $3,745,614.50 secured claim tied to Houston-based creditor Belate LLC.
That entity has been adamantly seeking to recoup its losses, and a February 1 court-administered auction of 10 Rocking M properties could have resolved much of that fiscal stress. Alas, a Kansas broadcaster swooped in and grabbed them.
Not so fast, Belate is now telling the Kansas City federal bankruptcy court that on Thursday will approve the auction results — or grant Belate’s appeal.
As RBR+TVBR first reported, Tideline Partners LLC broker Greg Guy helped in serving as the broker charged with attracting bidders for the Rocking M stations. Bidding was conducted in three stations, with a group of northern Kansas properties soliciting offers, followed by a group of Southern Kansas facilities. Then, the bids for these stations were consolidated, with the minimum bid for all properties established from the dollar totals in these bidding rounds.
Belate LLC ended up as one of two backup bidders, as it put in a court-approved $1.9 million bid (plus 5% buyer’s premium) for the real estate associated with KXXX-AM and KRDQ-FM in Colby-Goodland, Kansas and for the stations KLOE-AM, KKCI-FM and KWGB-FM. These are the “Northern” stations.
Kyle Bauer’s winning bid for all 10 stations through his Kansas Broadcasting Co. includes a 5% buyer’s premium of $135,500, putting the total purchase price at $2,845,500.
Belate argues that there was more bidding to be had, and that during this third phase it would have countered its offer for the Colby and Goodland stations. This, along with the backup bid for stations in Dodge City and Liberal, Kansas, secured by another licensee, would have resulted in a higher total price for the stations.
However, RBR+TVBR understands that the third phase of bidding required a single entity to offer a bid for all 10 properties, not just the “Northern” or “Southern” properties. As such, Belate’s argument could be denied come Thursday at 2:45pm Central.
A source close to the matter said this was made very clear to Belate, and that they are questioning an established process for the bid.
