Checketts Sets August 22nd Deadline to Submit Formal Offers
For those of you interested in the eventual sale of the St. Louis Blues go ahead and circle August 22nd on your calendar.
Process letters were recently sent to nine individuals/groups who have expressed interest in purchasing the Blues. All interested buyers must have their formal offers in by August 22nd.
The process letter lays out everything each group must submit along with their formal offer to buy the hockey club. For example each group will need to show their primary source of capital as well as the members involved in their group among other things. Game Plan LLC, Dave Checketts, and the NHL will review all of this before they reach an agreement with a new Owner.
Checketts recently said he expects to have the team sold by the beginning of the regular season.
One name that has been attached to the Blues sale is Chicago businessman Matt Hulsizer but sources tell me he has moved on citing the high asking price. He would certainly qualify as a great Owner in the opinions of Blues fans based on his combination of wealth and passion for the game of hockey.
There are other options available for a guy like Hulsizer who remains interested in purchasing an NHL team. But for now it appears he’s crossed St. Louis off of his list. This could always change down the road but this is where we are today.
I should point out Hulsizer was included in the nine groups that were sent process letters. I wouldn't get too caught up in the number of groups here. Just because someone is looking doesn't necessarily mean they are seriously looking.
What about Stillman?
If Checketts is truly hard-pressed on getting close to $200 million for the Blues, minority Owner Tom Stillman faces a steep challenge. I’m told at least one person in Stillman’s group recently backed away. The individual, who does not want to be named, was not considered a major player in the Stillman group. Still the “Major Partners” seem reluctant to throw in more money at this time.
A purchase agreement has been drafted by Game Plan LLC Lawyers and is currently available on the data site for each group to see. The purpose of having the agreement already drafted is to expedite the process in an effort to get the team sold by early October. Every group has been asked to submit any tweaks they would like to make to the purchase agreement along with their formal offer.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
strickland.andy@gmail.com
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Um, this very article flag this comment
I intended to say:
@ Carcus
Um, this very article; & most any of the previous articles by Andy & J.R. flag this comment
Who do you think is going to control the selling price when the business goes up for sale? Do you think you will have the say in the asking price? Or will I have a much bigger say and drive the conversation since I own the majority of the business?
Does Checketts want to get as much as possible for the sale of the Blues? Yes. If Checketts were willing to sell at say 165 Million is his acceptance at that price going to get the deal done? No.
Towerbrook is holding the cards in this hand. Why people want to focus solely on Checketts is pretty silly. flag this comment
It also means he's the one that takes the bullets. He designed it that way, he's a big boy. Something tells me he can take it.
This Messiah complex that you have Carcus, is what's really silly. What is it about you that makes you think you need to stand up for all the little fellas that are forced to deal with criticism?
I personally don't dislike nor hate Checketts. But I also lend no credence to anything he has to say. His track record in St. Louis taught me he has no real credibility. He did that to himself.
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I don't feel compelled to "stand up for the little fellas". Here is a difference between me and I guess most everyone else that likes to post on places like this. I like to have discussions and I see things differently than most. I am not here to simply defend players/Blues ownership. For some reason people enjoy posting just about anything negative that they can think of. I don't see things the same so I usually will post my opinion that often differs greatly from the majority.
Personally, I really do think that Checketts has done great things. Yes, he is the front guy. He has made good choices to manage the limited resources that his group had. He brought in good hockey guys to run the franchise and it has worked. They went from a no talant (literally) team to a team full of young talanted players.
Checketts has also decided as the front man to go out and publically talk. He set personal deadlines that he thought would come to pass. They didn't. Guess what? If he hadn't come out and talked fans would be complaining that they never hear from the guy. Things fell through and didn't go according to plan. If that is really why you or others don't want to think he has any credibility, fine. It is situations like this where fans/media want to kill him for not getting self imposed deadlines/goals that lead to fans hearing nothing at all.
Why can't you or others handle a different opinion? I am being honest. I don't come on here just to defend players. I come on here to have discussions and it usually works out because I tend to have a different opinion and the differences lead to discussions. If you come here to give your opinion and only expect a +1, I agree!, then sorry. flag this comment
Blatant attempts to have a differing opinion with no sound basis. Well, that's our Carcus.
The reason no one likes you is because you are so incredibly fake. You have never had a critical view. That doesn't make you as special as you think you are, it makes you phony.
The basis for all of your arguments has always been 'Can you guys all explain to me why you all hate _______________ so much?"
Bigfatphony.
flag this comment
That is pretty pathetic bcallaway. Bigfatphony???
You know what the #1 tactic that people tend to do on internet message boards when they don't really have a good counterpoint? Get personal/name call. Good job!
flag this comment
It's been replaced by "roll over onto your back, extend limbs into the air and play the victim".
Isn't that what a Carcus (sic) is? A dead animal.
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I'm sticking with that.
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It'd be interesting to know how much investigation is going into the groups who have expressed interest. I've been involved in bid processes in the past albeit not for a NHL franchise. Lots of times companies who bid a working their tails off trying to get a sense for what their competitors are trying to bid.
What exactly has he done to deserve the dislike/hate that is coming his way lately?
I just hope no one is dumb enough to pay his 200 mil asking price. flag this comment
And who doesn't try and avoid paying taxes? Everyone does. If you can legally get out of paying taxes, you try and make it happen. flag this comment
Is it any coincidence that they sold the team the same year that their tax breaks on Busch Stadium were expiring? flag this comment
HA! HA!
All you checkets bashers are a bunch of crybabies. WA!WA!WA!.
hope dave checkets sells the blues to qubec. Wa!WA!Wa! carcus and blue man guru.
HA! HA!
All you checkets bashers are a bunch of crybabies. WA!WA!WA!.
hope dave checkets sells the blues to qubec. Wa!WA!Wa! carcus and blue man guru.
I dont think you are being very fair. Checketts has not done anything to warrant those comments about him. Is there anything at all to back up those opinions of him? He put together a group to buy the Blues. When Towerbrook wanted out he attempted to get another group together so that he could remain on board.
He is not the one who is just trying to cash out. He wanted to stay because he does care about the Blues and wants to see the success that they are now built to have.
I understand that people are anxious for this whole ownership situation to finally end. But taking out your frustrations on someone who was instramental in getting the team competative again and in a great situation for the future is just not cool.
He deserves credit for getting good hockey people in place and building a strong franchise base, but when the team really needed him to apply some clout he ducked and ran. After the Blues 2009 finish, the year they made the playoffs, the time was ripe to fill in the missing pieces everyone knew was needed.
Suddenly he became a budget wonk and in the end the actual black-and-white results of the Blues under Checketts has only been marginally better than when he took over.
You can't talk about parades and sit near the cap floor. The two don't mix.
The sooner he's gone the better for the franchise. flag this comment
Also, he did not suddenly become a budget wonk. They always worked within their budget from the day that they got here.
The W-L record may only be marginally better, but the talant is head and shoulders above where it was.
"The sooner he's gone the better for the franchise"??? I don't want this to happen, but someone could come in and totally screw up the team. That is just a dumb statement. He would have to be the worst owner possible for that statement to be true. I don't care how much you or others don't care for Checketts, but that simply isn't true. flag this comment
You would have to have your head stuck in the sand to believe otherwi.....
Oh, wait. Nevermind. I forgot who I was talking to for a minute.
My bad. flag this comment
I want the ownership situation to finally come to an end. Just because Checketts leaves and new ownership comes in does not make things automatically better though. flag this comment
The only good thing he did for this franchise that will have a lasting effect was partner up with John Davidson, and let him run the team.