The secret is out, but the one man in Colorado who knew the identity of the buyer of the former StorageTek campus still can’t talk about it.
Citing a confidentiality agreement, attorney James Mulligan of Denver- based Fairfield and Woods PC referred questions regarding ConocoPhillips’ acquisition of the 432-acre campus to company representative Bill Tanner. Tanner could not be reached for comment Thursday.
For months, rampant speculation swirled around the identity of the buyer, with companies such as Google, eBay and Microsoft among the names bandied about.
Even Louisville Mayor Chuck Sisk didn’t know who the buyer was — despite meeting at least 10 times with ConocoPhillips executives or their representatives.
“The contract was signed in the fall, and I started having discussions with the unknown buyer,” Sisk said. “They were gauging Louisville’s interest in having someone come to our city.”
Sisk said he knew the first and last name of a consultant ConocoPhillips hired but declined to name the person. He said company representatives identified themselves only by their first names.
“I had a high degree of comfort that it was going to be a company that was compatible with Louisville and Boulder County, as far as being people of high intellect and highly educated,” Sisk said. “They didn’t need me to draw a line to the University of Colorado.”
The city had to flesh out its comprehensive plan and answer questions about transportation, water and utilities.
“They knew I would not do anything to bind the city of Louisville,” Sisk said. “That would all be done in open meetings. No promises have been made other than . . . they would be well-received.”
Gov. Bill Ritter revealed ConocoPhillips as the mystery buyer of the former StorageTek campus Wednesday. The Houston-based company bought the campus from Sun Microsystems.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sun, which bought StorageTek for $4.1 billion in 2005, put the property on the market last year and has been moving employees from the Louisville campus to its main Colorado campus in Broomfield.
“There was a time when Sun had filed an application with the city of Louisville to subdivide the property and retain building No. 4,” Sisk said.
By May, however, the company decided to consolidate its campus in Broomfield and sell the former StorageTek site.
“At that stage, we had new discussions with Sun about the fact that they were going to do an RFP (request for proposals),” Sisk said.
He said ConocoPhillips called him Tuesday afternoon and told him the company was buying the campus.
Representatives from the company approached the state’s Office of Economic Development about locating in Colorado, but never identified themselves, said Matt Cheroutes, director of communications and external affairs.
“To the best of my knowledge, they did not approach anyone in the state,” Cheroutes said. “It may be odd, but it may be the key to keeping a secret.”
Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com
This article has been corrected in this online archive, due to incorrect information provided by the state Office of Economic development. Representatives from ConocoPhillips did contact state economic-development officials while negotiating the deal, but did not reveal the company’s identity.
