Leafs, Raptors, FC up for sale (UPD: reports - OTPP have withdrawn sale offer)

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Confucius

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Feb 8, 2009
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Not surprising. At $1.8B Morgan Stanleys' going to have to find someone (or a group) willing to pay the ego-premium. At that price its' simply not an attractive investment for the usually rational & relatively conservative private equity firms with the actual wherewithal to even pay it in the first place if they ever felt so inclined, which they dont. Next?.
1.8 billion seems cheap afterall MLSE makes money, Leafs alone have an operating income of 68,000,000 million per year. Compared to teams asking 200 million, that lose 20 plus million a year.

All in all there are very few people that can raise that much money. Maybe they have to break it up. Arena, Leafs, NBA Team, MLS Team, AHL team.

Don't forget Killion, the owner of MLSE can get 500 million back just for allowing another team in the neighbourhood.;)
 
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Killion

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Don't forget Killion, the owner of MLSE can get 500 million back just for allowing another team in the neighbourhood.;)

Oh sure, if a group of very wealthy investors played it right, paid MLSE their asking price, kept the Jewels in the Crown of the ACC, Leafs & Broadcast Vehicles etc along with Development Interests, move the Marlies to Barrie, cash the Indemnification Cheque out of Hamilton, divested themselves of the Raptors & TFC, Bobs yer Uncle. Thats what Id do. Break it up.

But good... :D
 

Killion

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Gretzky denies any involvement in purchase of Leafs

This just gets stranger & stranger. They've got both Gretzky & his agent stating they'd been approached, pull the quotes', Cox claiming he "stands by his sources" yadda yadda yadda. In the scheme of things its meaningless. The last thing Gretzky needs is to be saddled with some sort of titular role in Toronto with an incoming ownership group, an easy target for 44+yrs of frustration from the Leafs faithful. I mean, what possible role, beyond a bit of window dressing could he possibly serve?. If "they", whoever "they" might be were serious, they'd be rolling out the likes of Bob Baun, Bower, Keon, Salming... it doesnt make any sense. :rant:
 

Killion

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Well thats interesting. Taken off the market. I thought they wanted to divest themselves of MLSE due to capitol gains & tax ramifications pursuant to the pension fund itself. Could it be that they never really wanted to sell but for the purposes of somewhat less than genuine magnanimity decided to entertain offers, setting the price so high with that ego premium as to almost guarantee no takers?. One things for sure, with the OTPP in for the long haul, good luck Markham with that concert "arena".
 

Tinalera

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Well thats interesting. Taken off the market. I thought they wanted to divest themselves of MLSE due to capitol gains & tax ramifications pursuant to the pension fund itself. Could it be that they never really wanted to sell but for the purposes of somewhat less than genuine magnanimity decided to entertain offers, setting the price so high with that ego premium as to almost guarantee no takers?. One things for sure, with the OTPP in for the long haul, good luck Markham with that concert "arena".

Am I the only finding it coincidental that now all of a sudden the Leafs, currently in a battle for the division lead, and having their best record at this point in the season in a few years, and could actually make the playoffs this year, plus actually have a decent farm system, that that the teachers have pulled it off the market? Could they possibly they think they could get even MORE should the Leafs make the playoffs and show down the road a possibility in a two to three years of a possible Stanley Cup appearance?
 

Killion

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^Is it simply coincidental & incidental with the interesting developments in Markham?. Manna for the Conspiracy Theorists.
 

Killion

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Damn it!!! i know a new owner opening up the
area was a pipedream.. but atleast i had some hope..

signed
further crushed Hamilton Hopeful. :(

Maybe not. Grudgingly if given a choice, you want it in your own backyard or 48 miles west?. As these guys up in Markham are going to be working with Global Spectrum & or LiveNation, competing directly with the ACC for concerts & events, theres not going to be any love lost. Enmity given birth the minute it was officially announced, doubling up when the spades hit the earth; open warfare over bookings. :squint:
 

Ryan34222

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Mar 19, 2010
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Maybe not. Grudgingly if given a choice, you want it in your own backyard or 48 miles west?. As these guys up in Markham are going to be working with Global Spectrum & or LiveNation, competing directly with the ACC for concerts & events, theres not going to be any love lost. Enmity given birth the minute it was officially announced, doubling up when the spades hit the earth; open warfare over bookings. :squint:

competing directly with ACC may give Markham an even further upper hand..gives them another option in negotiations?

either way the NHL wont force another team on MLSE.. that i am sure off

#sucksforsouthernontario
 

Killion

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competing directly with ACC may give Markham an even further upper hand..gives them another option in negotiations?

either way the NHL wont force another team on MLSE.. that i am sure off

#sucksforsouthernontario

I dont see that giving Markham an upper-hand, on the contrary, its provocative. They wont accede to any threats to back off in competing with the ACC for events in order to garner approval from MLSE in order to secure a franchise. Blackmail?... and Im not convinced the NHL wouldnt force the issue either. Bettman & Daly have made some extremely strong statements that they dont believe any single club has the right to veto an incursion into their territories and seem more than willing to push the envelope.
 

Ryan34222

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I dont see that giving Markham an upper-hand, on the contrary, its provocative. They wont accede to any threats to back off in competing with the ACC for events in order to garner approval from MLSE in order to secure a franchise. Blackmail?... and Im not convinced the NHL wouldnt force the issue either. Bettman & Daly have made some extremely strong statements that they dont believe any single club has the right to veto an incursion into their territories and seem more than willing to push the envelope.

come on Kil, snake oil salesmen GB and Daly? :D

what would happen if they said the opposite during the bankruptcy case/possible anti trust suit?

sure the NHL could push around most teams but the Leafs?
 

Killion

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come on Kil, snake oil salesmen GB and Daly? :D

what would happen if they said the opposite during the bankruptcy case/possible anti trust suit?

sure the NHL could push around most teams but the Leafs?

Well of course they wouldnt have said the opposite during the BK as they'd created that By-Law back in the 90's to stifle accusations of anti-trust. Thing is, theyve' now become strident after years of success & I have no doubt whatsoever that they'd be more than willing to drop the gloves with MLSE. None. Zero. Be a beauty of a case if they were unable to reach a negotiated settlement.
 

Ryan34222

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Well of course they wouldnt have said the opposite during the BK as they'd created that By-Law back in the 90's to stifle accusations of anti-trust. Thing is, theyve' now become strident after years of success & I have no doubt whatsoever that they'd be more than willing to drop the gloves with MLSE. None. Zero. Be a beauty of a case if they were unable to reach a negotiated settlement.

i posted this on the Markham thread.. ohh to be a fly on the wall for that convo lol
 

Killion

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Theres' a strange article in todays NYPost. The reporter claim's (sources close to the situation) Gretzky was in fact fronting Providence, they offered $1.5B, but were rejected by Gary Bettman as over 50% of their financing was being secured through loans. Very peculiar and quite the opposite to whats been reported elsewhere. Now, granted its the New York Post, but still... wouldve been wonderful. Im sure LeafNation would been thrilled to have a multi-cup winner at the helm & given him all the time in the World, like Ken Dryden for example. And when it came to revenue sharing, why, just with hold the payments forever and a day, and when Gary rings you up to collect ask him "how it does it feel not to get paid money your owed"? & slam the receiver in his ear...

Note; tried to link article, unsuccessful. Someone else give it a shot.... :dunce:
 
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htpwn

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MLSE annual revenues estimated at $650 million, per the National Post.

Just how much revenue MLSE has generated has never been made public because it is a privately held company. However, sources say the company has been generating more than $650-million in annual revenue in recent years.

Bell Canada and Rogers attempted to team-up and purchase the team, but rifts emerged over how the internet and TV rights would be split and led to any prospect of a deal being scuttled, per the Globe and Mail.

The blue-chip Canadian companies were prepared to pay between $1.3-billion and $1.4-billion for the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan's 79.5-per-cent stake in MLSE, and would have split the price down the middle. But they had a hard time working together, especially when it came to dividing up the prized broadcast and Internet rights that they were after, and their talks dissolved.

Finally, also from the Globe and Mail, Toronto-Dominion Bank will not get a top-up after the team was pulled off the market.

The end of the auction for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment means that Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD-T68.18-0.52-0.76%) won't be getting any more money for the stake in MLSE that it sold to Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

Teachers', which owned the majority of MLSE, bought TD's 13.46-per-cent stake in MLSE in May. The price was never disclosed, but sources said that the deal included a top-up provision to protect TD in case Teachers managed to resell the stake at a higher value.
 

Killion

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Toronto-Dominion Bank will not get a top-up after the team was pulled off the market.

Which apparently is really where Gretzky enters the stage. He has a contract with TD, commercials, voiceovers, rah rah speeches at regional levels etc. Seems they were at one time considering a greater stake in MLSE & had casually discussed the matter with #99. Just smoke. No real fire.
 

LadyStanley

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http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/opinion/2011/11/hunter-needs-to-get-ovechkin-going-30-thoughts.html

Thoughts on the sale that didn't happen, and the next MLSE leader.

26. A lot of different opinions on why the Maple Leafs were not sold. Two big ones: as mentioned last week, minority owner Larry Tanenbaum's right-of-first-refusal continues for another couple of years. Also, banks aren't really thrilled right now about lending the amount of money the majority owners are asking for. "It can't get any worse in two years. In fact, you have to assume it will be better," one ownership-type said.

27. MLSE approached former Canadiens president Pierre Boivin about its position -- which becomes available when Richard Peddie retires at the end of this calendar year. Unless Boivin's changed his mind very recently, he declined because his family is happy in Montreal.
 

Killion

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Thoughts on the sale that didn't happen, and the next MLSE leader.

There have been some intriguing names mentioned/rumored, the one I find most interesting being Tim Lieweke of AEG. He Chairs the NHL Expansion & Relocation Committee as you know.
 
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