It’s done. It’s FINALLY done. The Ottawa Senators have sold out. They have been sold to Michael Andlauer. Here’s everything you need to know.
The Sens sell for close to a billion dollars
As reported by PostMedia’s Bruce Garrioch, the price agreed upon to buy the Sens was $950 million. This makes the purchase of the Ottawa Senators the highest price for an NHL team to date. This deal easily increases the value of every other team in the NHL, making this a good day for the business side of the NHL.
Theoretically speaking, the deal is not officially closed. Andlauer has been selected as the “preferred offer” and now the NHL Board of Governors (one representative per NHL team) must vote on this deal, and 2/3 of the 31 voting parties must approve it. This won’t be a problem as the Governing Council likes Andlauer and probably wants this deal done as much as anyone. That vote will likely come at its next meeting session on June 22, though it could happen sooner.
Basically, what this means is that the other offerings (headed by Neko Sparks and the Kimel family) have officially been removed from the process. If by chance the Board of Governors rejects Andlauer’s purchase, the Melnyk estate will be forced to back down. The Melnyk family also holds 10% of the team.
Who is involved?
Clearly, Michael Andlauer is not going to pay the full price of $950 million himself. He has assembled a group of investors to help pay that bill. He has assembled a group of 15 investors/business owners based in Ottawa. It is too early to know each participant, but it has been confirmed that Jeff York, the founder and owner of Farm Boy and Yorkville Asset Management has been brought into the fold. Claridge Homes’ Bill Malhotra is also involved in this deal.
Steve Staios is believed to be hired in a hockey operations role (either GM or PoHO)
It’s finally (almost) over.
As I said earlier, this is not over. A few things have to happen for it to be a done deal. The Board of Governors has to vote and accept this offer, and the Andlauer group has to agree on their specific distribution of the property and all that fun stuff, but that will happen soon.
Michael Andlauer is the owner of the Ottawa Senators.
