A group headed by NBA’s Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf has taken a significant step in its bid to buy the bankrupt NHL Phoenix Coyotes, reaching an agreement in principle with the NHL team’s largest secured creditor.
Steven Abramowitz, attorney for SOF Investments, announced the agreement at a hearing in US Bankruptcy Court on Tuesday. He said the deal included a “substantial pay-down” of the US$80 million SOF was owed, with the rest rolled over into an ongoing debt.
Abramowitz urged the court to “do anything it can” to keep Reinsdorf’s bid alive.
SOF Investments had previously declined to back the Reinsdorf bid, saying it supported the proposal by Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie, who has offered US$212.5 million, contingent on moving the team to Hamilton, Ontario.
SOF would get all US$80 million under Balsillie’s bid.
Outside the courtroom, Abramowitz declined to say whether the company still supported Balsillie’s offer.
Balsillie’s representative Richard Rodier said Abramowitz’s announcement came as a surprise in the long, twisted bankruptcy process.
Judge Redfield Baum scheduled Tuesday’s hearing to sort out the remaining issues in the complex case. He set a hearing for Sept. 2 on several matters, most importantly whether the court should overrule the NHL owners’ overwhelming rejection of Balsillie as an owner.
Baum ordered a stop to any attempt made by Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes or Balsillie to get confidential information on the applications of the Reinsdorf group and the other potential buyer, Ice Edge, from the NHL. He also said no depositions of those involved in either potential bid would be permitted.
Moyes and Balsillie sought the information because they wanted to see if Reinsdorf was treated differently in his application than Balsillie. The NHL board of governors rejected Balsillie’s bid to become an owner by a 26-0 vote on grounds he was untrustworthy.
Earlier in the hearing, the Reinsdorf group’s attorney Alan Klein said by telephone that his clients were fed up with the meddling and interfering as they attempted to work out the details of their offer. Klein said confidential information already had been made public by Moyes’ attorneys, who said it was a mistake and have apologized.
Balsillie wants to move the team immediately if his bid is successful, something the NHL contends can’t be done.
Auction of the team is set for Sept. 10, two days before the start of training camp and four days before the Coyotes play their first exhibition game. The NHL wants the judge to rule that the team will play next season in Arizona.
Reinsdorf’s group still faces major hurdles, including reworking a lease agreement with the city of Glendale and persuading the judge that the bid is acceptable, even though the US$148 million offer is much smaller than Balsillie’s bid.
Baum delayed action on the relocation issue until he rules on whether Balsillie can buy the team over the league’s objections.
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