Clandestino
02-24-2005, 09:05 AM
If Red thinks SA could support a team, I think we could...
McCombs could help S.A. plant expand
Web Posted: 02/24/2005 12:00 AM CST
Travis E. Poling
Express-News Business Writer
Business is never far B.J. "Red" McCombs' thoughts. And as he awaits the sale of his NFL franchise at an estimated profit of $380 million, he already is contemplating his next investments.
The sale of his Minnesota Vikings to Arizona businessman Reggie Fowler will take a couple of months to complete and receive NFL approval. Fowler's worth is estimated to be about $400 million and he will likely have to bring in partners to meet league capital requirements.
Meanwhile, Fowler's background has been called into question after his company issued a statement hinting he had a degree in business and played for two pro football teams, which he had not.
McCombs said that although another sports team could be in his future — in addition to the Vikings, he has owned the Spurs and another NBA team, the Denver Nuggets — he has his sights set on a mix of eclectic companies.
The 77-year-old San Antonio auto dealer and financier is exploring the purchase of an undisclosed manufacturing plant in West Texas and may invest more money into a San Antonio food company he already partly owns.
McCombs discusses the beef- and pork-tasting products made of chicken by 21st Century Foods with the same relish as he would a player trade or a coming game. The food products are in several states, with some distribution in San Antonio Super Target stores.
Ultimately, he hopes to have greater retail distribution, but with a focus on selling patties to institutions such as school cafeterias.
Michael Poehl, 21st Century's CEO, said the food manufacturer will soon have dinners using the flavored, processed chicken on sale at Wal-Mart Super Centers.
Those sales plus an additional investment from McCombs — already the main venture capital investor — will allow the company to expand its plant in an industrial district just outside downtown San Antonio.
The dinner line of frozen foods including lasagna and chile verde is sold under the name Total Meals. The patty products are sold as Redi-Quick.
Poehl took a circuitous route to get funding from McCombs Enterprises. One of his friends was a University of Texas baseball coach, and McCombs is a major supporter of UT athletics. The friend was able to arrange a meeting so Poehl could present his business plan.
At the first meeting, Poehl said, McCombs asked shrewder, deeper questions than other potential investors would ask.
Then he tasted the products. "'First the dog has to like the dog food,'" Poehl recalled McCombs saying. Then he told Poehl, "I don't usually invest in startup companies, but the thing is, you might be successful without me, and then I'd be mad for 25 years.'"
McCombs' best-known investments have been sports teams, car dealerships and a fortuitous investment in Clear Channel Communications Inc. — a small amount of money for a small radio station company that became the nation's largest and made him a billionaire.
But he also has a knack for picking companies and industries that need his capital and a little sound advice.
A year ago, McCombs took a 22.5 percent stake in Austin-based J.R. Beck Music Products, which sells its own brand of guitars over the Internet. He took an option to get 45 percent of the company in the future.
He also has found success in real estate development and management through Koontz/McCombs with partner Bart Koontz.
There's also McCombs Energy, ranches in several states and a planned ski resort development in an undeveloped area of Colorado. Several environmental groups are trying to block that project. He also has holdings in biotech companies.
He also keeps his eye on the McCombs Foundation, which gave out more than $8 million last year to 339 individuals and causes, most of them student- and people-oriented, including scholarship assistance.
Not everything has worked out, especially when McCombs gets outside his areas of expertise.
For example, he teamed with several former NBA owners to form a publicly traded movie investment company, SLM Partners. From 1981 to 1986, the company invested in successful 20th Century Fox movies such as "Romancing the Stone" and its sequel, "Jewel of the Nile," starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.
But the failures were equally spectacular. The partnership invested the full 33 percent allowed by the studio into distribution of "Rhinestone," a huge flop starring Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton.
McCombs, though, has millions of shares in Clear Channel Communications and has made money on every sale of his sports teams.
He's not ruling out buying into another team, but will focus on other businesses for a while.
And he still thinks San Antonio is ripe for an NFL team that would draw fans from South Texas and Northern Mexico, but he doesn't hold out hope that his home city has a shot at getting an expansion team or a relocation anytime soon.
McCombs has never been an NHL owner and doesn't think he will be, despite the chance he could get a good deal on a distressed team with this year's canceled hockey season.
McCombs could help S.A. plant expand
Web Posted: 02/24/2005 12:00 AM CST
Travis E. Poling
Express-News Business Writer
Business is never far B.J. "Red" McCombs' thoughts. And as he awaits the sale of his NFL franchise at an estimated profit of $380 million, he already is contemplating his next investments.
The sale of his Minnesota Vikings to Arizona businessman Reggie Fowler will take a couple of months to complete and receive NFL approval. Fowler's worth is estimated to be about $400 million and he will likely have to bring in partners to meet league capital requirements.
Meanwhile, Fowler's background has been called into question after his company issued a statement hinting he had a degree in business and played for two pro football teams, which he had not.
McCombs said that although another sports team could be in his future — in addition to the Vikings, he has owned the Spurs and another NBA team, the Denver Nuggets — he has his sights set on a mix of eclectic companies.
The 77-year-old San Antonio auto dealer and financier is exploring the purchase of an undisclosed manufacturing plant in West Texas and may invest more money into a San Antonio food company he already partly owns.
McCombs discusses the beef- and pork-tasting products made of chicken by 21st Century Foods with the same relish as he would a player trade or a coming game. The food products are in several states, with some distribution in San Antonio Super Target stores.
Ultimately, he hopes to have greater retail distribution, but with a focus on selling patties to institutions such as school cafeterias.
Michael Poehl, 21st Century's CEO, said the food manufacturer will soon have dinners using the flavored, processed chicken on sale at Wal-Mart Super Centers.
Those sales plus an additional investment from McCombs — already the main venture capital investor — will allow the company to expand its plant in an industrial district just outside downtown San Antonio.
The dinner line of frozen foods including lasagna and chile verde is sold under the name Total Meals. The patty products are sold as Redi-Quick.
Poehl took a circuitous route to get funding from McCombs Enterprises. One of his friends was a University of Texas baseball coach, and McCombs is a major supporter of UT athletics. The friend was able to arrange a meeting so Poehl could present his business plan.
At the first meeting, Poehl said, McCombs asked shrewder, deeper questions than other potential investors would ask.
Then he tasted the products. "'First the dog has to like the dog food,'" Poehl recalled McCombs saying. Then he told Poehl, "I don't usually invest in startup companies, but the thing is, you might be successful without me, and then I'd be mad for 25 years.'"
McCombs' best-known investments have been sports teams, car dealerships and a fortuitous investment in Clear Channel Communications Inc. — a small amount of money for a small radio station company that became the nation's largest and made him a billionaire.
But he also has a knack for picking companies and industries that need his capital and a little sound advice.
A year ago, McCombs took a 22.5 percent stake in Austin-based J.R. Beck Music Products, which sells its own brand of guitars over the Internet. He took an option to get 45 percent of the company in the future.
He also has found success in real estate development and management through Koontz/McCombs with partner Bart Koontz.
There's also McCombs Energy, ranches in several states and a planned ski resort development in an undeveloped area of Colorado. Several environmental groups are trying to block that project. He also has holdings in biotech companies.
He also keeps his eye on the McCombs Foundation, which gave out more than $8 million last year to 339 individuals and causes, most of them student- and people-oriented, including scholarship assistance.
Not everything has worked out, especially when McCombs gets outside his areas of expertise.
For example, he teamed with several former NBA owners to form a publicly traded movie investment company, SLM Partners. From 1981 to 1986, the company invested in successful 20th Century Fox movies such as "Romancing the Stone" and its sequel, "Jewel of the Nile," starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.
But the failures were equally spectacular. The partnership invested the full 33 percent allowed by the studio into distribution of "Rhinestone," a huge flop starring Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton.
McCombs, though, has millions of shares in Clear Channel Communications and has made money on every sale of his sports teams.
He's not ruling out buying into another team, but will focus on other businesses for a while.
And he still thinks San Antonio is ripe for an NFL team that would draw fans from South Texas and Northern Mexico, but he doesn't hold out hope that his home city has a shot at getting an expansion team or a relocation anytime soon.
McCombs has never been an NHL owner and doesn't think he will be, despite the chance he could get a good deal on a distressed team with this year's canceled hockey season.