Kurt_eh
03-03-2005, 01:44 PM
C B C . C A S p o r t s O n l i n e - F u l l S t o r y :
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http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2005/03/03/Sports/nhl_buyoutoffer.html
NHL owners hear offer to buy league
Last Updated Thu, 03 Mar 2005 10:01:20 EST
CBC Sports
A pair of American-based companies have made a joint offer to buy the National Hockey League lock, stock and barrel for roughly $3.5 billion US.
INDEPTH: Faceoff 2004-05 (http://www.cbc.ca/sports/indepth/cba/)
Bain Capital Partners LLC, a Wall Street buyout firm, and Game Plan International, a sports advisory company, tabled the offer to buy the 30-team league during the NHL owners meeting in New York on Tuesday.
Both companies are somewhat familiar to sports fans. Steven Pagliuca, managing partner at Bain Capital Partners, is co-owner of the NBA's Boston Celtics. Game Plan helped facilitate the sale of the Ottawa Senators to Canadian billionaire Eugene Melnyk in 2003.
FROM MARCH 2, 2005: Replacement players touchy subject in hockey circles (http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2005/03/02/Sports/shanahan050302.html)
The two companies made a 20-minute pitch to the league's owners at the invitation of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. They offered to buy the NHL's 30 hockey clubs for about $100 million apiece.
Under the proposed plan, the NHL would operate as one company with franchise outlets, much like those in the retail industry.
FROM MARCH 1, 2005: NHL, NHLPA show unified fronts (http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2005/03/01/Sports/nhlplayerss050301.html)
Canadian cable sports network Sportsnet reported that the owners' interest in the offer was low. Bill Daly, Bettman's right-hand man, refused to characterize the owners' level of interest.
When asked why the two companies were invited to table their offer, Daly suggested the NHL's leadership had a duty to explore all possibilities.
"When someone's offering over $3 billion, we felt we had an obligation to the board to have them, at least, hear it from the proposed purchaser," Daly told the Globe and Mail.
Bettman cancelled the NHL season in February after a five-month lockout of the players. The NHL is the first of North America's four major professional team sports to scrap an entire season because of labour strife.
The NHL is nearly a $2-billion industry, but, according to Bettman, the league is being financially ruined by escalating player salaries. A study by Arthur Levitt, a former chairman of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, found the league lost $273 million last season.
In the past, the NHL players' union has been skeptical of Bettman's claims, saying that teams have under-reported the money they bring in by tens of millions of dollars.
Copyright ©2005 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2005/03/03/Sports/nhl_buyoutoffer.html
NHL owners hear offer to buy league
Last Updated Thu, 03 Mar 2005 10:01:20 EST
CBC Sports
A pair of American-based companies have made a joint offer to buy the National Hockey League lock, stock and barrel for roughly $3.5 billion US.
INDEPTH: Faceoff 2004-05 (http://www.cbc.ca/sports/indepth/cba/)
Bain Capital Partners LLC, a Wall Street buyout firm, and Game Plan International, a sports advisory company, tabled the offer to buy the 30-team league during the NHL owners meeting in New York on Tuesday.
Both companies are somewhat familiar to sports fans. Steven Pagliuca, managing partner at Bain Capital Partners, is co-owner of the NBA's Boston Celtics. Game Plan helped facilitate the sale of the Ottawa Senators to Canadian billionaire Eugene Melnyk in 2003.
FROM MARCH 2, 2005: Replacement players touchy subject in hockey circles (http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2005/03/02/Sports/shanahan050302.html)
The two companies made a 20-minute pitch to the league's owners at the invitation of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. They offered to buy the NHL's 30 hockey clubs for about $100 million apiece.
Under the proposed plan, the NHL would operate as one company with franchise outlets, much like those in the retail industry.
FROM MARCH 1, 2005: NHL, NHLPA show unified fronts (http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2005/03/01/Sports/nhlplayerss050301.html)
Canadian cable sports network Sportsnet reported that the owners' interest in the offer was low. Bill Daly, Bettman's right-hand man, refused to characterize the owners' level of interest.
When asked why the two companies were invited to table their offer, Daly suggested the NHL's leadership had a duty to explore all possibilities.
"When someone's offering over $3 billion, we felt we had an obligation to the board to have them, at least, hear it from the proposed purchaser," Daly told the Globe and Mail.
Bettman cancelled the NHL season in February after a five-month lockout of the players. The NHL is the first of North America's four major professional team sports to scrap an entire season because of labour strife.
The NHL is nearly a $2-billion industry, but, according to Bettman, the league is being financially ruined by escalating player salaries. A study by Arthur Levitt, a former chairman of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, found the league lost $273 million last season.
In the past, the NHL players' union has been skeptical of Bettman's claims, saying that teams have under-reported the money they bring in by tens of millions of dollars.
Copyright ©2005 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved