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Saturday, February 15, 1997

Report: Carter will sell most of remaining stake in Mavs

DALLAS (AP) - Donald Carter, the Dallas Mavericks' former majority owner, reportedly will sell most of his remaining stake to Fort Worth billionaire Richard Rainwater.

The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported the deal Friday.

The sale will occur as part of a $300 million real estate deal, the newspapers said. The deal includes more than 3 million square feet of office space and probably will make Rainwater's real estate company the largest office landlord in the Dallas area.

The sale's effect upon negotiations with the city for a new arena is unclear, but current majority owner Ross Perot Jr., acknowledged that the sale to Rainwater creates "many options" outside Dallas.

Carter is a longtime Dallas booster. The Mavericks' ownership group now includes two prominent Fort Worth businessmen, Rainwater and car dealer David McDavid.

Rainwater is part-owner of the Texas Rangers, who play in Arlington, and is acquiring from Carter a piece of land in Lewisville, north of Dallas, that Perot called "a great arena site."

Rainwater also has a growing stake in downtown Dallas real estate, underscored by his announcement Monday that he'll pay $162 million for the 50-story Trammell Crow Center.

Rainwater is chairman of Crescent Real Estate Equities Co., a publicly traded real estate investment trust. Crescent said Thursday that it will buy virtually all the assets of Carter-Crowley Properties Inc., controlled by Carter.

Those assets include a 16.5 percent share in the Mavericks. Rainwater acquires 12 percent interest in the team. Carter retains a 4.13 percent share in the team, and the right to invest at that percentage in a new arena, team officials said.

A secretary in Rainwater's office referred a request for comment to Crescent chief financial officer Dallas Lucas. Lucas did not return a call for comment Friday.

Carter could not be reached for comment Friday. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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