Let's Go Blues

The sale of the St. Louis Blues to a group headed by minority owner Tom Stillman is finally ready to be announced.

According to an NHL source, Stillman has his financing and legal work in place and is just waiting for the right moment – probably when the Blues are finished in the NHL playoffs – to make the announcement. The final step will be the stamp of approval from the league’s board of governors, although that is not going to be a problem since Stillman is NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s preferred buyer.

The purchase, thought to be for around $130-million (all currency U.S.), comes not a moment too soon. Two sources say the Blues’ debt situation is serious enough under current chairman Dave Checketts that the NHL has been paying the team’s bills, likely in the form of advances on its share of league revenues, since early January. The assistance may have ended in April when ticket money from the playoffs and season tickets for next season began coming in.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly insisted it was “not accurate” to say the Blues sale is awaiting only an announcement or that the team was getting money from the league. He said in an e-mail message the timing of the announcement is “being driven exclusively by the deal itself. When it’s done, it will be announced immediately.” However, Daly also said he expects the sale will “happen in the near future.”

Stillman will get the Blues, their American Hockey League team, the lease to the Scotttrade Center and a share of the Peabody Opera House. He will also have to deal with the Blues’ sizeable debt and make sure the NHL is reimbursed for all of its expenses.

The group put together by Stillman consists of people prominent in St. Louis business circles. The most well-known among them is the Taylor family, which owns Enterprise Holdings Inc., which operates Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car.

According to a source familiar with Stillman’s plans, the only management departure from the Blues in the wake of the sale will be Checketts. Blues president John Davidson, general manager Doug Armstrong and head coach Ken Hitchcock, who turned the team around on the ice, are all expected to retain their positions.

kodos wrote:I wonder if actual money will be spent.

thedoc wrote:I'm still afraid, that we are trading one group with no money to spend for another group with no money to spend. I hope I am wrong.

According to an NHL source, Stillman has his financing and legal work in place and is just waiting for the right moment – probably when the Blues are finished in the NHL playoffs – to make the announcement.

goon attack wrote:How will this affect teh organ?

Blues on brink of sale to Stillman
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/hockey/p ... e5b41.html

The close of the NHL playoffs Sunday came too soon for many Blues fans. The closing on the team's sale to a new ownership group this week can't come soon enough.

After a two-year saga that reached the level of the NHL controlling the Blues' finances, a vote by the league's Board of Governors on the sale of the club to a group led by local businessman Tom Stillman will be completed today, sources have told the Post-Dispatch. The closing of the sale will be finalized Wednesday, and a press conference announcing the news is expected as soon as Thursday.
The new ownership group, according to sources, will name former Blue and Hockey Hall of Famer Brett Hull to a management position. No other changes to the team's management staff, which includes President John Davidson and general manager Doug Armstrong, have been announced.

Stillman, who is CEO of Summit Distributing in St. Louis and has been minority owner of the team since 2007, heads a list of local investors who will pay an estimated $130 million for the Blues, the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League and 'significant interest" in the Peabody Opera House.
The list price of the franchise is $180 million, but that figure includes close to $50 million in future interest that will be divided among the current Blues owners: Stillman, TowerBrook Capital Partners and SCP Worldwide. In December, Forbes valued the Blues at $157 million, 27th among 30 NHL teams. The team was purchased in 2006 for $150 million.
The finalization of the sale comes just days after the Blues were eliminated in the Western Conference semifinals after being swept four games to none by the Los Angeles Kings. It marked the team's first appearance in the second round of the postseason since 2002.
An abrupt end to a record-breaking season has the Blues faithful reeling, but a resolution to the sale of the club, bringing stability to a franchise that has been operating in financial dire straits, should add comfort to a loyal fan base.
The deal will come two years to the month, May 2010, that former Blues Chairman Dave Checketts announced that TCP, a private-equity firm that has been the team's top investor since 2006 with a 70 percent stake, was divesting its interest.
In December 2010, Checketts announced that he had an investment group "95 percent" assembled to purchase the team. But three months later, he reported that the deal had fizzled and the club was entirely on the market.
Checketts later reached a deal to sell the team to Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer. Under the agreement, Hulsizer would have owned 70 percent of the team and Checketts' newly created private-equity fund would have controlled 25-30 percent. But after signing a purchase agreement in October, the group received a Dec. 31 deadline from the NHL to complete the deal and the deadline wasn't met.
In January, the league terminated Hulsizer's purchase agreement and shifted its focus to Stillman. Stillman's group signed a purchase agreement in January and has continued to be the front-runner to land the team.
Stillman's investment group includes his father-in-law, former U.S. Sen. John Danforth, R-Mo.; Steve Maritz, CEO of Maritz Inc.; Donn Lux, CEO of Luxco; and the Taylor family, owners of St. Louis-based Enterprise Holdings.
Other local investors will be revealed when the sale is announced, according to sources.
"Local ownership is great if you can put it together," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told the Post-Dispatch in January. "Tom is putting together a group of distinguished people from St. Louis, and if it all comes together, we think fans of the Blues have reason to be very comfortable and excited about the future of the club."

The new ownership group, according to sources, will name former Blue and Hockey Hall of Famer Brett Hull to a management position.

cprice12 wrote:

The new ownership group, according to sources, will name former Blue and Hockey Hall of Famer Brett Hull to a management position.

Awesome.

DaDitka wrote:

cprice12 wrote:

The new ownership group, according to sources, will name former Blue and Hockey Hall of Famer Brett Hull to a management position.

Awesome.

There was also a report today that Walt want's in.....one question? WTF will they all be doing? Army is staying, JD is staying, Al is staying.....plus Brett...where does Walt fit in?

Prngr44 wrote:

DaDitka wrote:

cprice12 wrote:

The new ownership group, according to sources, will name former Blue and Hockey Hall of Famer Brett Hull to a management position.

Awesome.

There was also a report today that Walt want's in.....one question? WTF will they all be doing? Army is staying, JD is staying, Al is staying.....plus Brett...where does Walt fit in?

Krispy Kreme vendor.

DaDitka wrote:

cprice12 wrote:

The new ownership group, according to sources, will name former Blue and Hockey Hall of Famer Brett Hull to a management position.

Awesome.

There was also a report today that Walt want's in.....one question? WTF will they all be doing? Army is staying, JD is staying, Al is staying.....plus Brett...where does Walt fit in?