NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman met with reporters today in Ottawa prior to the Florida Panthers taking on the Ottawa Senators. The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch is reporting that Bettman told reporters that there are six bidders in phase two of the Senators sale process, and several of them are strong groups.
Postmedia has reported several times that the Senators' sale process likely won’t be completed until late in April, but beyond that, it could take into the early summer for all the paperwork and approvals to be completed for the sale. Bettman did comment today that this phase of the process could take up to six weeks which would likely push it into early May. He also added that finalizing any agreement would take at least two to three months leading him to speculate that it could be mid to late summer for a deal to be complete. Bettman added that in the second phase, the bidders will be coming to Ottawa to meet the front office, tour the building, and do more due diligence than in the first round of bidding.
Several of the bidders will be in Ottawa over the next few weeks, including arguably the most high-profile bidder The Remington Group. The Markham-based group is led by Christopher Bratty, along with the owner of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals Rocco Tullio. It also includes Canadian-born actor Ryan Reynolds.
The NHL and Bettman must be happy with the level of interest this process has garnered for a team that has struggled to be relevant for more than a half-decade. It has been reported in several media outlets that the final sale price could be in the range $900M to $1BN. Not bad for a team that is just two decades removed from being bought out of bankruptcy, and has struggled both on and off the ice for quite some time.
Bettman kept his cards close to his chest and offered precious little in terms of new information. One thing he did say that should be music to the ears of Senators fans was that “The one thing that everybody should be comfortable with, and I’ve said this repeatedly, if this team is moving, the only place it’s moving is downtown. It’s not leaving Ottawa. The Senators will be here no matter who buys the club.”
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