NHL backs Reinsdorf bid for bankrupt Phoenix team
CHICAGO, July 1 (Reuters) - The National Hockey League is
backing a bid by sports team mogul Jerry Reinsdorf to buy the
bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes for up to $148 million rather than the
$212.5 million offer from Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie.
The NHL believes the owner of the Chicago White Sox
baseball and Chicago Bulls basketball teams and part-time
Arizona resident will keep the team in the Phoenix area and the
league hopes Judge Redfield Baum accepts Reinsdorf's bid,
Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in an email.
"At the end of the day, what we have and what's been
submitted to the court, we think is the best offer that's out
there, and we're trying to maximize the value for all
creditors," Daly said in an email.
He added that the NHL feels Reinsdorf's group is committed
to the Arizona market and if it decided to sell would look
first for a local owner. The NHL has repeatedly said it wants
the Coyotes to remain in Arizona.
Balsillie, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd's() co-chief executive, wants to buy the team and move it
to southern Ontario.
A Balsillie spokesman declined to comment, pointing to a
Tuesday court filing in which attorneys for his sports holding
company said Reinsdorf's bid did not provide any cash to pay
unsecured creditors of the Coyotes and was contingent on
reaching new deals with the secured creditors.
"There is a significant likelihood that the Reinsdorf bid
will not be finalized, and if finalized, will not be held the
'best' bid," according to the court filing.
Last week, Reinsdorf submitted a bid to pay up to $148
million for the hockey team, which has not made a profit since
moving to Arizona in 1996. The team is coached and partly owned
by all-time scoring leader Wayne Gretzky.
An auction for the team will be held Aug. 5, limited to
bidders planning to keep the team in Arizona. If Reinsdorf's
bid were deemed inadequate, a second auction would be held on
Sept. 10 -- open to bidders who have the option to move the
team.
In his bid, Reinsdorf said he expected to renegotiate the
team's arena lease agreement with the Phoenix suburb of
Glendale, where the team plays, as well as reach new deals with
foodservice company Aramark Corp [ARMRK.UL] and the team's
regional television broadcaster.
Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes, who put the team in bankruptcy
against the NHL's wishes and hopes to sell to Balsillie, has
expressed disappointment with Reinsdorf's bid, saying it was
not legitimate.
"There appears to be no cash in the proposal and it fails
to provide funds to pay creditors," he said in a statement on
Monday.
He also questioned why Glendale would negotiate a more
favorable lease at the arena in which the Coyotes play for
Reinsdorf but not him.
The case is: in Re: Dewey Ranch Hockey LLC, U.S. Bankruptcy
Court, District of Arizona, No. 09-09488.
(Reporting by Ben Klayman, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
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