Gary Bettman was preaching patience with the Ottawa Senators sale process Saturday night.
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Speaking at his state of the union address with deputy Bill Daly on Saturday night before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final in Las Vegas, the National Hockey League commissioner told reporters that all four bidders remained in the mix and that there was still work to be done to get a new owner in place, though it could be completed in the next few weeks.
“I don’t know that anybody’s out,” Bettman said. “I know that they’re trying to move forward as quickly as possible to conclude the process. The bidding was robust, the interest was great, and I’m being advised by GSP that they expect a very good outcome in the next few weeks.
“So, we’ll have to sit back and see.”
There was a sense Friday that Bettman might have wanted New York-based banker Galatioto Sports Partners and the representatives of Melnyk estate to have this deal completed before the Stanley Cup final started.
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As Postmedia reported, it’s believed Toronto billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos, who had the highest bid at $1 billion (all figures U.S.), is the front runner to buy the Senators, with negotiations in the final stage.
He went to the one-yard line with a $6-billion bid to try to buy the National Football League’s Washington Commanders, but Apostolopoulos was ultimately outbid by Josh Harris, owner of the New Jersey Devils and the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association.
As this newspaper first reported at the May 15 deadline for binding bids, Apostolopoulos along with Toronto businesspeople Michael Andlauer, Jeffrey and Michael Kimel of Harlo Capital and Los Angeles-based producer Neko Sparks all submitted pitches to buy the Senators.
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Reading the tea leaves, the most serious competition for Apostolopoulos is the bid by Andlauer. Those close to Andlauer say he wants this team badly and there’s talk he’s studying adding new investors to bring in more money.
A part-owner of the Montreal Canadiens, Andlauer is a member of the NHL’s board of governors and that is a draw for head office. But, if he doesn’t get his bid where it needs to be, then he’ll finish second in this race.
The Kimel family has bolstered its bid with the addition of Toronto billionaire Jamie Salter, but it’s not known how much that means at this point.
The bidders and fans of the Senators are frustrated with the amount of time it’s taking to get a deal done. The club was officially put up for sale Nov. 7, and, if this sale isn’t closed by Monday night, it will enter a fourth week since final bids were submitted.
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Listening to Bettman, it didn’t sound like a sale would be announced anytime soon, but the hope is there will be a deal this coming week.
“I know there’s a lot of speculation about the process and how long it has taken,” Bettman said. “There are probably two reasons for that. There needs to be recognition that buying a billion-dollar asset isn’t the same as buying a new car. It takes a little more due diligence and work to do it.
“I also know that most times when a franchise is sold you don’t know about it until it gets to the end. I think Eugene Melnyk’s untimely passing sort of began the clock running and that’s why there seems to be some fatigue in some quarters covering this story.
“There shouldn’t be, the process run by (Sal) Galatioto has been done well and done right.”
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A league source familiar with these kinds of deals said Saturday what was happening with the Ottawa sale was par for the course.
“They’re taking their time with it and they’re ratcheting up the price,” the source said. “Not only that, they’re also working on the terms and conditions of the sale because they’re in negotiations on more than just purchase price.”
There’s no deadline, but this sale needs to cross the finish line.
The source said that meant, once a deal was in place, it may not take as much time to close on the purchase because a lot of what would need to be done would already have been negotiated.
There was speculation when final bids were entered that GSP would cut the field in half and focus on a preferred bidder. That has never happened, at least publicly, and Postmedia reported that the banker would keep everybody in the mix in case they weren’t able to close with one party.
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That’s why Sparks hasn’t been officially cut from the race. Sources say he doesn’t have his funding finalized, but GSP is better off having him stick around than cutting him out completely. If negotiations go off the rails with a preferred bidder, Sparks is still there to lean on if needed.
Once a deal in principle is signed, it must be forwarded to the NHL’s executive committee for approval. That group is scheduled to meet Wednesday.
Before the new owner can take over, the deal also needs two-thirds approval from the NHL board of governors. That won’t happen at a meeting in New York later this month, but one be called any time to rubber-stamp the deal.
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