Balsillie, NHL sweeten offers for Coyotes
PHOENIX — Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie and the NHL have sweetened their bids to buy the Phoenix Coyotes.
The new offers came in the final hours Friday of the two-day auction for the team in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
The four-month bitter battle involving a legion of attorneys is nearing a conclusion with Judge Redfield T. Baum indicating he'll make a ruling in the next few weeks.
Balsillie, who withdrew the Sept. 21 deadline he had set, offered the city of Glendale $50 million free of conditions to drop its objections to the transfer of the franchise to Hamilton, Ontario. The earlier offer, rejected by the city, could have reduced that $50 million through various factors. Balsillie's overall bid is $242.5 million.
The Canadian pledged to pay an additional $11 million to $12 million in "trade debt." The NHL also said it would pay that claim.
The NHL's offer, which would keep the team in Glendale, remained at $140 million. But, for the first time, it provided money to Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes.
Moyes and Wayne Gretzky would have access to about $14 million remaining in the estate, under the NHL's estimate. Moyes has a claim of about $100 million, Gretzky $22.5 million.
The NHL plans to resell the team out of bankruptcy. Commissioner Gary Bettman testified earlier in the day that he understood Ice Edge Holdings and a group headed by Chicago sports mogul Jerry Moyes would be interested. Both pulled out of the bidding after failing to reach a new lease agreement with Glendale.
SOF Investments, the lead secured creditor in the case, and the creditors' committee both came out in support of the NHL bid. SOF would get all its money under both bids.
"Frankly we believe there's less legal risk in accepting the NHL bid," Steven Abramowitz, attorney for SOF Investments, said. "For that reason, we strongly prefer the NHL bid."
Paul Sala, the creditors' committee attorney, said some 99 percent of creditors would get paid.
"It's not perfect," Sala said, "but from the committee's standpoint we support the NHL's position."
The claims of Moyes and Gretzky still face challenges. Both would be paid by Balsillie's bid.
It's no wonder, then, that Moyes attorney Carolyn Johnson strongly supported the Balsillie bid.
The NHL also said it would reduce a claim it has against Moyes from $30 million to $15 million.
Glendale attorney William Baldiga said Balsillie's new offer would be considered but the city remained "enthusiastically" behind the NHL bid.
Gregory Milmoe, one of the league's attorneys, repeated the NHL's contention that the bankruptcy case never should have been filed. He argued that the case is about more than which offer is the largest.
At the end of the day, all the attorneys thanked the judge.
"I always hope that if you're local or not," the judge said, "you get the same shabby treatment as everybody else."
Source: The Associated Press
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