Phoenix Coyotes sale: New investor to emerge?

The NHL has also met with the Seattle City Council. McGinn says that a representative from Chris Hansen’s group introduced him to potential investors two weeks ago. Daniels confirmed that those investors are Ray Bartoszek and Anthony Lanza.

CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada Hotstove reported earlier that Glendale will hold a city council meeting to potentially approve a sale on June 25. A local ownership group has a “handshake agreement” to buy the team, but if the deal isn’t approved by the city, Bartoszek and Lanza could move the team to Seattle as early as the 2013-14 season.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Billy Daly was not fooling around on Wednesday when he suggested the Phoenix Coyotes may not be playing in Glendale, Ariz. next season. There may finally be an ownership group with a “handshake agreement” to buy the team, but they need the city council’s approval, which is not a slam dunk. The situation in that market has finally hit endgame, and the NHL has their “Plan B” set up.

According to CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada Hotstove (which is always connected on these sort of things), there will be a city council meeting to potentially approve a deal on June 25. However, if the deal doesn’t work out and isn’t approved, the Coyotes may be gone within the week. On July 2, an ownership group led by New York Yankees minority owner Ray Bartoszek and investor Anthony Lanza will take the team to Seattle.

Citing a source, Ozanian reports that Renaissance Sports will receive an $85 million loan from the NHL in order to help with the purchase. The group, headed by George Gosbee, will also receive $120 million from the Fortress Investment Group, which will be repaid by the fee Glendale will be asked to provide as part of the arena lease. Renaissance will provide $45 million.

The excess $80 million of that equation will be used as operating capital.

The City of Glendale will begin accepting proposals from third-party companies to manage Jobing.com Arena on Monday.

With the attempted sale of the team spanning several years, the city is taking a proactive approach to remove the management of the arena from prospective buyers. In previous situations, the arena management lease has been a point of contention in the sale.

Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers told Paul Giblin of USA Today that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman informed him that a group of investors could be in place by next week. The intention of the NHL is to keep the team in Glendale. According to Weiers, he has yet to be informed of who the investors are and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly declined comment when pressed for their identities.

Canadian financier George Gosbee is believed to be part of a group of Canadian investors who are interested in buying the Coyotes, according to a report by Scott Burnside of ESPN on Thursday morning. Burnside cites a source who says they could close on the deal as early as next week.

During a segment on TSN’s broadcast, Dreger mentioned that the NHL is nearing a “decision” about the embattled franchise. He later took to Twitter to provide more details, saying that while the league will continue to fight to keep the Coyotes in Glendale by meeting with prospective buyers, “time is running out” and a decision about possible relocation could come before the NHL playoffs begin.

Dreger also mentioned that Quebec City, Seattle and Kansas City are among the possible relocation sites, with Quebec City considered the favorite to land the Coyotes. Prospective Seattle sports owner Chris Hansen released images of his new arena a few weeks ago.

This means that the city will be pulling its 20-year, $300 million-plus arena lease deal from the equation.

On Friday afternoon, the NHL released a statement from deputy commissioner Bill Daly explaining the league’s stance on the current state of the franchise, via the Coyotes website:

Greg Jamison, who reached a lease agreement with the Glendale City Council long enough ago that several members have been ousted by voters because of it, has missed the final deadline to get the financing together to close a deal to buy the club from the NHL. Jamison’s request for an extension was denied by new Glendale mayor Jerry Weiers.

People rightly see this as just another chapter in the tragedy that has dragged Coyotes fans, players and staff through hell for three and a half years. But in reality it’s just another chapter in a far broader, far longer-running comedy: The NHL’s endless and often fumbling quest to find competent, able-funded owners for its many franchises.

Glendale had agreed to a 20-year, $300 million lease agreement with Jamison to run the city-owned Jobing.com Arena. However, a stipulation of the deal was that Jamison had to complete the purchase of the Coyotes by Jan. 31.

With the arena deal in place, several reports detailed that it was the final hurdle in the process.

Jamison had until Jan. 31 to purchase the team or else the 20-year, $300 million arena lease signed by the City of Glendale to operate Jobing.com arena would expire.

Citing sources familiar with the deal, Sunnucks reports that two individuals informed him that the deal would be closed on Wednesday, while another official informed him that the deal would close on Thursday. Regardless, if these reports are accurate, the Coyotes will remain in Glendale and the three-year ownership situation will finally be stabilized.

The City of Glendale passed a vote on a proposed 20-year deal that would pay Jamison close to $300 million to manage the Coyotes’ current home, Jobing.com Arena, which is owned by the city. The deal was contingent upon Jamison completing the purchase of the team prior to Jan. 31.

Jamison has been working to purchase the team for over a year. With the situation continually hitting speed bumps along the way, the arena deal was seen as the final hurdle to keep the Coyotes in Glendale.