Post by JETStender on Jul 14, 2009 16:10:45 GMT -5
NHL top brass to face four-hour grilling in court
Did they influence alternate offer?
July 14, 2009
Ken Peters
The Hamilton Spectator
(Jul 14, 2009)
The top executives of the National Hockey League will each face four-hour examinations next week on their roles in convincing Chicago sports magnate Jerry Reinsdorf to make an offer for the Phoenix Coyotes.
The legal examinations of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly are scheduled for July 22 and 23 in New York.
Arizona bankruptcy court Judge Redfield T. Baum approved the examinations and, over NHL objections, will permit a member of Jim Balsillie's legal team to observe the question and answer sessions.
"I think judge we're asking for trouble and there is no reason for it," NHL counsel Alan Meda said.
The crux of the examination of the NHL's top two officials is to determine whether the league interfered in the possible sale of the bankrupt Coyotes by convincing three other potential bidders for the team to support Reinsdorf's $148-million offer to buy and keep the Coyotes in Phoenix. One of the bid groups was identified as Toronto Argonaut owners David Cynamen and Howard Sokolowski. The Coyotes' creditors fear the possible "coalescing" of the bids has thwarted competitive bids that would have increased the potential sale price of the franchise.
The future of the Coyotes is set to be determined within weeks. The bankruptcy court has scheduled a sales auction Aug. 5 for bids that would keep the team in Phoenix. Reinsdorf has until July 24 to formalize his offer sheet to do just that. If no bids are found to be satisfactory, the court will hold a Sept. 10 auction for bids to buy and relocate the franchise.
That would open the door for Balsillie's $212.5 conditional offer to buy and relocate the team to Hamilton.
Larry Watson, a lawyer for the United States Trustees' office, which serves as a legal watchdog on bankruptcy cases, said Daly's comment that there was a "coalescing" of four bids to one requires examinations of the NHL brass and Reinsdorf.
"The NHL opened itself up to this type of inquiry saying there has been a coalescing of those other bids. What does that mean? Is that collusion? I don't know and I'm not making any accusation. The concern is that it's bid chilling, potentially. And we need to know what occurred with regards to that coalescing statement," he said.
But in a two-hour hearing yesterday, Baum rejected any similar examination of Reinsdorf, at least before he submits a formal purchase bid.
Baum pointed out he doesn't want any of the parties involved in the Coyotes' bankruptcy saga to scare away any other potential bidders by threatening to have them face legal examinations of their potential offers.
"I'm very concerned about doing things that will cause bidders not to come to court and make a bid on these assets. Conversely I'm going to do everything I can to encourage bidders to come to this court to make a bid on these assets," Baum said, adding subjecting bidders to legal examination would discourage bids.
"I'm real serious about one thing. If there is somebody out there who expresses an interest but does not want to be thrust into the public domain I expect all of you to scrupulously observe that that request is complied with," the judge said.
In an unrelated matter, Baum ordered the NHL to meet with lawyers for the Coyotes' creditors and owner Jerry Moyes on the expected release of the league's regular season schedule next week with respect to the provisos that should be included in the event the team moves to Hamilton.
"Seems like you could all agree on some language to work this out. In a simple sense it's the Phoenix Coyotes until there is an order that says otherwise," he said.
kpeters@thespec.com 905- 526-3388
Did they influence alternate offer?
July 14, 2009
Ken Peters
The Hamilton Spectator
(Jul 14, 2009)
The top executives of the National Hockey League will each face four-hour examinations next week on their roles in convincing Chicago sports magnate Jerry Reinsdorf to make an offer for the Phoenix Coyotes.
The legal examinations of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly are scheduled for July 22 and 23 in New York.
Arizona bankruptcy court Judge Redfield T. Baum approved the examinations and, over NHL objections, will permit a member of Jim Balsillie's legal team to observe the question and answer sessions.
"I think judge we're asking for trouble and there is no reason for it," NHL counsel Alan Meda said.
The crux of the examination of the NHL's top two officials is to determine whether the league interfered in the possible sale of the bankrupt Coyotes by convincing three other potential bidders for the team to support Reinsdorf's $148-million offer to buy and keep the Coyotes in Phoenix. One of the bid groups was identified as Toronto Argonaut owners David Cynamen and Howard Sokolowski. The Coyotes' creditors fear the possible "coalescing" of the bids has thwarted competitive bids that would have increased the potential sale price of the franchise.
The future of the Coyotes is set to be determined within weeks. The bankruptcy court has scheduled a sales auction Aug. 5 for bids that would keep the team in Phoenix. Reinsdorf has until July 24 to formalize his offer sheet to do just that. If no bids are found to be satisfactory, the court will hold a Sept. 10 auction for bids to buy and relocate the franchise.
That would open the door for Balsillie's $212.5 conditional offer to buy and relocate the team to Hamilton.
Larry Watson, a lawyer for the United States Trustees' office, which serves as a legal watchdog on bankruptcy cases, said Daly's comment that there was a "coalescing" of four bids to one requires examinations of the NHL brass and Reinsdorf.
"The NHL opened itself up to this type of inquiry saying there has been a coalescing of those other bids. What does that mean? Is that collusion? I don't know and I'm not making any accusation. The concern is that it's bid chilling, potentially. And we need to know what occurred with regards to that coalescing statement," he said.
But in a two-hour hearing yesterday, Baum rejected any similar examination of Reinsdorf, at least before he submits a formal purchase bid.
Baum pointed out he doesn't want any of the parties involved in the Coyotes' bankruptcy saga to scare away any other potential bidders by threatening to have them face legal examinations of their potential offers.
"I'm very concerned about doing things that will cause bidders not to come to court and make a bid on these assets. Conversely I'm going to do everything I can to encourage bidders to come to this court to make a bid on these assets," Baum said, adding subjecting bidders to legal examination would discourage bids.
"I'm real serious about one thing. If there is somebody out there who expresses an interest but does not want to be thrust into the public domain I expect all of you to scrupulously observe that that request is complied with," the judge said.
In an unrelated matter, Baum ordered the NHL to meet with lawyers for the Coyotes' creditors and owner Jerry Moyes on the expected release of the league's regular season schedule next week with respect to the provisos that should be included in the event the team moves to Hamilton.
"Seems like you could all agree on some language to work this out. In a simple sense it's the Phoenix Coyotes until there is an order that says otherwise," he said.
kpeters@thespec.com 905- 526-3388