Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 11, 1990 TAG: 9005110731
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/10 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: COLUMBIA, S.C. LENGTH: Short
PTL's trustee, attorney Dennis Shedd, said Thursday he had signed the pact with the Tulsa, Okla.-based university but still hopes to find a buyer to acquire the entire PTL complex.
"I do have a firm deal with Oral Roberts University. However, in the contract, I expressly reserved the right to sell all the assets until the point of approval of the sale of just the network," Shedd said.
The PTL complex includes the satellite network, the 500-acre Heritage USA Christian retreat in Fort Mill and 1,700 acres of undeveloped land in upstate South Carolina.
Shedd filed legal papers in Columbia Thursday asking U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Thurmond Bishop to approve the sale to Roberts on May 31.
Richard Roberts, son of Oral Roberts, said university regents approved the offer this week.
"We believe it is important to provide 24-hour Christian broadcasting to a global audience assuring that God's word will be taken to every man's world," Roberts said in a statement.
The assets of the Bakkers' former empire have been on the block since April 1988.
Bakker was convicted last fall of fraudulently raising $158 million from PTL contributors and is serving a 45-year prison sentence.
by CNB