Alabama A&M is officially out of the running to buy the recently closed Birmingham-Southern College campus. According to documents obtained by AL.com, Alabama A&M’s cash offer to purchase the campus was “considerably lower” than the top bid. Leaving the bid made by Miles College still on the table.
Alabama A&M said they accept Birmingham Southern’s decision to “entertain other offers” to purchase the vacant campus.
“As a public institution, we have a responsibility to the taxpayers of Alabama to have shown fiscal discipline with our offer as we operate under certain constraints,” said Shannon Reeves, vice president of Government Affairs & External Relations at Alabama A&M.
“With no deal in Birmingham, we will shift our resources to be invested on our main campus in Huntsville as we achieved record enrollment in the 2023-2024 academic year,” Reeves added.
A representative from Birmingham-Southern refused to comment on the offers made by Alabama A&M but says that negotiations with Miles College are still active. Miles College was the first of the two HBCUs to submit a letter of intent to start negotiating a possible purchase of the Birmingham-Southern College campus. Alabama A&M submitted to purchase the school the following day. It’s still unsure how much the bid from Miles College was.
“We considered what was presented to us, and we signed an LOI agreement with Miles,” she said, referring to the letter of intent, a document that acknowledges plans to enter into a legally binding agreement between two parties.
“I think it speaks for itself that we have an LOI with Miles,” she added.
But according to Alabama A&M’s vice president of business and finance, Carton Spellman, the university is willing to renew its bid if current negotiations fall through. Alabama A&M made two offers to purchase Birmingham-Southern back in May and June. The first offer was for $52 million in either cash or cash and the assumption of the university’s debt in exchange for the campus and certain assets. The second offer was for $35.5 million, per documents obtained by AL.com. The offer totaling $65.5 million consisted of 35.5 million in cash and $30 million in “maintenance,” although the document doesn’t mention anything about the $30 million.
After years of dwindling enrollment and financial difficulties, Birmingham-Southern College announced in March that it would close at the end of the 2023–2024 academic year. Sadly, the college’s attempts to get support from the state were unsuccessful. The campus officially closed on May 31.
Follow Us
Subscribe