[News] Pittsburgh Penguins are for sale

[sureLoss]

http://www.tsn.ca/lemieux-burkle-exp...guins-1.299085

Pittsburgh Penguin owners Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux have hired Morgan Stanley to explore the possibility of selling some or all of the NHL franchise.
It doesn't mean Burkle and Lemieux are necessarily getting out but they are looking at various options. It's believed Lemieux, perhaps more than Burkle, may have an interest in getting his equity share out of the ‎franchise.
Even if Lemieux and/or Burkle decide to sell, it's believed they have some interest in retaining some involvement or connection with the team.

[kmart]

Wonder if Burkle thinks this is his chance to maximize his earnings with Crosby and Malkin at their primes. They've got 6-7 years of good hockey left and maybe Burkle fears years of last place finishes afterwards.

[polak]

[JBR]

Cmon Lotto Max!

[Ben_in_Canada]

Anyone from CP want to get our piggy banks together and make an offer?

[flamesfan1297]

Originally Posted by Ben_in_Canada

Anyone from CP want to get our piggy banks together and make an offer?

I've got 10$ if that helps any

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Ben_in_Canada

Anyone from CP want to get our piggy banks together and make an offer?

Would we be able to force the GM to trade any valuable assets to the Flames for "future considerations"?

[Hackey]

I'd imagine Mark Cuban will take a look.

[flamesfan1297]

Originally Posted by Hackey

I'd imagine Mark Cuban will take a look.

Friedman said on Twitter that he emailed Cuban and asked if he still had the same interest as in the past. Cuban said "No, I didn't have a family back then"

[Winsor_Pilates]

How much did they buy the team for?
I'm hearing $550 Million is expected sale price now; curious how much that's up.

[CaptainYooh]

Group buy?

[Hugh Jahrmes]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Group buy?

Sure the asking price is 550 million in DOLLARS.. But has anyone bothered crunching the numbers on what the ballpark would be for a bulk exchange of next-to-new Jarome Iginla Penguins jerseys?
We gotta be pretty close, teamwork makes the dream work guys lets do this

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by kmart

Wonder if Burkle thinks this is his chance to maximize his earnings with Crosby and Malkin at their primes. They've got 6-7 years of good hockey left and maybe Burkle fears years of last place finishes afterwards.

I expect that if they were ever going to sell their value will never be higher than now with the new building, and Crosby/Malkin still big name players. Once they decline the allure of purchasing the franchise will definitely be lower.

Originally Posted by polak

They are looking to sell the team not to hire new zamboni drivers.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

How much did they buy the team for?
I'm hearing $550 Million is expected sale price now; curious how much that's up.

I'm not sure about Burkle, but Mario got his piece in lieu of money owed to him by the previous owner.

From the Penguins' Wikipedia page...

The Penguins were simultaneously in the midst of a battle for their survival. Their free-spending ways in the early 1990s came with a price; at one point they owed over $90 million to various creditors. Owners Howard Baldwin and Morris Belzberg (who bought the Penguins after their first Cup win) asked the players to defer their salaries to help pay the bills. When the deferred salaries finally came due, combined with other financial pressures, the Penguins were forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 1998.

At this point, Lemieux stepped in with an unusual proposal to buy the team out of bankruptcy. By this time, the Penguins owed him $32.5 million in deferred salary, making him the team's largest creditor. He proposed to convert enough of this money into equity to give him controlling interest. He also promised to keep the team in Pittsburgh. The League and the court agreed, and Lemieux, with help from supermarket tycoon Ronald Burkle, assumed control on September 3, 1999, thus saving the franchise for the second time.

I don't know what percentage of the team Mario owns, but if they can sell for over a half a billion, it's safe to say he did well for that $32.5 million.

[opendoor]

I believe Lemiuex owns roughly 25% of the team. He was owed $32.5M, but took $25M with $5M of that coming in cash and the rest in equity in the team. Here's an article from a few years ago about that NYI-PIT incident that also talks about Lemieux's stake in the team:

One governor said Bettman made sure Lemieux received a 25-per-cent stake in the Penguins when the current ownership group led by Ron Burkle was put together. That represented $20-million of the money Lemieux was owed and he also received $5-million in cash. Then, thanks in part to a push from Bettman, although Lemieux worked on it as well, the new Consol Energy Center ensured the value of the Penguins is now about $250-million.


"Mario could have been an active owner if he desired," one governor said. "He's got 25 per cent of a franchise that's valued at 250 million [dollars]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle1907098/

So a pretty good investment, especially compared to the 40 cents on the dollar he was being offered when the Penguins were in bankruptcy.

[Jacks]

Originally Posted by opendoor

So a pretty good investment, especially compared to the 40 cents on the dollar he was being offered when the Penguins were in bankruptcy.

Not to mention his percentage of profits every year for the last decade or so.

[TSXCman]

Originally Posted by Ben_in_Canada

Anyone from CP want to get our piggy banks together and make an offer?

Right where my mind is at, we can make an investment and push Crosby over to Calgary.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

How much did they buy the team for?
I'm hearing $550 Million is expected sale price now; curious how much that's up.

Hmmm....OK fine but only if Mario offers Air Miles.

That's about 36,666,667 points on the ole 1/$15 plan.

[dying4acup]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Hmmm....OK fine but only if Mario offers Air Miles.

That's about 36,666,667 points on the ole 1/$15 plan.

My visa has a 75k limit. Write me in for that amount in the cp bid.

For the record though, I'd rather bid for the coyotes and cash in when they move to Las Vegas. I'd get a return much sooner, be able to pay visa, and finally win in Vegas!

[T@T]

Being an NHL owner you need money to burn and money coming in from other sources.

I have a sneaky suspicion Lemieux needs some money!