Sky reports Liverpool's Gillette sells 80% stake in ...

[Paul Marin]

Montreal Canadiens. They did not speculate what this would mean to Liverpool although Gillette supposedly netted 330M pounds in the sale. It should improve his credit worthiness at the least.

[Sir X]

All Rafa needs is 50 million

[Paul Marin]

All Rafa needs is 50 million

Then you can kiss Mascherano good bye! That will give him close to 30M and you can expect that he will have close to 15-20M from sales of other players (hopefully including Lucas!!). I will be well vex if Masch leaves as it will force me to watch racist La Liga. To be clear, I have no problem with the players, but the Spanish FA is a joke.

[Sir X]

Yuh nuh rate Lucas I see? I do watch im buss next season.

[Bruce]

NHL.com: Sale Of Montreal Canadiens

Molson family reaches deal to purchase Canadiens
Saturday, 06.20.2009 / 6:06 PM / News
NHL.com
MONTREAL – George N. Gillett Jr and Geoff Molson announced today that they have reached an agreement in principle for the sale of the Gillett family's interests in the Montreal Canadiens Hockey Club, the Bell Centre and Gillett Entertainment Group. They will hold a news conference as soon as the agreement is finalized.
Mr. Gillett was very appreciative of the extraordinary interest shown by a number of parties in the Montreal Canadiens, and acknowledged the fine work accomplished by the organization's management over the past eight years.
Congratulating and thanking Mr. Molson for the winning bid, Mr. Gillett said that he was pleased to return the ownership of the Canadiens to the Molson family, a family that has been associated with the Club for over three generations and committed to the Montreal community for seven generations over a 223 year period.
"Our family has been very proud to be associated with the Montreal Canadiens over the past eight years and particularly to be a part of their Centennial Season. I am fully confident that the Molson brothers, who have been a great part of the heritage of the Club, will ensure the preservation and development of this great sports institution," said Mr. Gillett.

Geoff Molson said he was very happy with Mr. Gillett's decision to accept his group's proposal and that he hoped the Board of Governors of the National Hockey League would look favourably on the transaction.

Mr. Molson said he is conscious that the Montreal Canadiens Hockey Club is a heritage asset for the Montreal community and that with his brothers Andrew and Justin he would endeavour to maintain the tradition of the prestigious club while working with management to build a strong team on the ice and aim to bring back the Stanley Cup to Montreal.

"This is a very exciting time for our family and we are grateful to the many people and
organizations who came forward to offer their collaboration in the development of our proposal," said Mr. Molson.

The price and other modalities of the agreement in principle were not disclosed. The next steps include finalizing the agreement and approval by the Board of Governors of the National Hockey League before the closing of the transaction which is expected in late August.

"I think to the extent that they've been able to find people who are obviously passionate about the game and structure a transaction that makes sense for everybody, that's a real plus for the franchise and the fans in Montreal," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in Las Vegas.

Material from wire services was used in this report.


Note: According to NHL.com, In January, 2001, Molson sold 80.1 percent of the Montreal Canadiens hockey club and 100 per cent of the Bell Centre arena in Montreal to Gillett for $275 million. Molson retained a 19.9 percent interest in the Canadiens.
- Bruce

[Peter R]

If what I'm reading is correct they almost doubled their money in 8 years; not bad all things considered.

[Paul Marin]

That is correct. I am in England right now one of the papers reported that the sale was a "lifeline to the Kop". I don't know how they can say that, it is more like a lifetime (of money) to Gillette as I don't see him pouring any more money into the Reds. They also said that Hicks was seeking a buyer for his Texas Rangers "franchise". That would be a great development as their credit worthiness should improve and HOPEFULLY they can build a NEW **************** stadium!!

[Peter R]

I haven't been following the fortunes of the NHL; I would imagine tho' that the fortunes of the Candiens are almost guaranteed, but relative to Liverpool how do you see them compare? In other words is Gillette looking to put his money in a more lucrative franchise? I would HAVE to believe that Liverpool is more so (potentially) because of its global reach/appeal, or is he REALLY just implementing his exit strategy? and going to go chill on a beach (there's a pun there btw as if you didn't know)

[Bruce]

Value Of Montreal Canadiens

NHL Team Valuations sorted by Rank - Forbes.com

In October, 2008, FORBES Magazine listed the Montreal Candiens as having a value of USD $334 million, which apparently includes the Bell Centre arena. The Candiens have a debt/value ratio of 72 percent, which includes debts on the Bell Centre.

For the 2007-08 season, the Canadiens had $139 million in gross revenues, and made $39.6 million profit before taxes, amortization, and depreciation. Both figures are second in the NHL behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, who had $166 million in gross revenue and a pre-tax profit of $66.4 million.

The Candiens' $334 million value is third in the National Hockey League behind the Toronto Maple Leafs ($448 million) and the New York Rangers ($411 million). The Phoenix Coyotes, now under Chapter 11 bankruptcy and are also for sale, are last at $142 million.

The values for the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins, finalists for the Stanley Cup the past two seasons, are much different. The Red Wings have a value of $303 million, fourth in the NHL, no debts, $110 million in revenue (fourth) and a pre-tax profit of $13.4 million (sixth)

The Penguins are ranked 18th with a value of $195 million, with a 51 percent debt/value ratio The Penguins had gross revenues of $87 million and made a pre-tax profit of $5.1 million.

[Peter R]

So the NHL are the fourth cousins in North American sporting leagues; Do any (MLS) football franchises compare? Are any MLS teams actually making a profit? The MLS is probably maintaining solvency by controlling wages...

When you consider it, making $13m profit on $110M revenue (Red Wings ) is not spectacular. Worse yet, is to compare their $13 m pre-tax profit to a $300m value... these clubs must be the owners' tax write-offs...and this is why I am not happy with some of the owners of sports clubs in general; the club is secondary to their (personal) empire building.

I heard a report on BBC the other day; basically they said the high salaries are what are keeping teams back; (what about the owners?)but what can you do when you have teams like Real Madrid, Chelsea, now Man City spending money like it's going out of style?

[Paul Marin]

Pedro, Liverpool is a more valuable entity than the Canadiens with more upside potential. However, don't expect to see Gillette pumping up the Reds balance sheet anytime soon with a cash infusion. It is widely reported in prior seasons that he has been trying to offload his share of Liverpool as well, but has been blocked from selling to potential buyers by Hicks. As I see it, the man is cashing in his chips and will probably be spending most of his time counting his winnings.

By the way, player salaries are not the issue. It is player valuations. You can thank 3 teams for the current madness - Chelski, Real Mad-drid and Manu-re and as you say, City too. All are clubs in major debt (although I can't say for sure how the cash infusion into City is handled). Anyway, they are making it impossible for other teams to build reasonably priced squads. That's why I will always sing Wenger's praises as he has held his head in giddy times, even though he has the money.