garrioch: michael andlauer approved by nhl's executive committee to buy ottawa senators
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michael andlauer is poised to become the become the next owner of the ottawa senators.
brian thompson
/
the brantford expositor / postmedia network
michael andlauer has cleared another hurdle in the purchase of the ottawa senators and is closing in on officially becoming the team’s new owner.
national hockey league sources told postmedia on saturday that the 58-year-old andlauer met with the nhl’s executive committee last week and was given the green light to move ahead with his purchase of the senators from the estate of the late eugene melnyk for $950 million (all figures u.s.).
the executive committee is led by commissioner gary bettman and deputy bill daly, along with owners mark chipman (winnipeg), geoff molson (montreal), jeremy jacobs (boston), craig leipold (minnesota), ted leonsis (washington), henry samueli (anaheim), larry tanenbaum (toronto) and jeff vinik (tampa bay).
a source said, “all is good” and the sale “is on track” to be completed in the coming days.
now all that remains is for lawyers to dot the i’s and cross the t’s before andlauer and his consortium can officially complete the purchase of the senators along with the canadian tire centre and the 75 acres the facility sits on in kanata.
once the paperwork is done and signed, the nhl’s board of governors will approve the sale of the senators to andlauer. no call is scheduled at this point, but one could be arranged quickly. the sale needs two-thirds approval from the board; however, it’s expected the vote will be unanimous.
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the owners of the nhl’s other 31 franchises are already familiar with andlauer, who sits as an alternative governor for the montreal canadiens. sources say he’s hoping to complete a sale of his 10-per-cent share in that club to molson soon, but, if that doesn’t happen, that share will simply be placed in trust.
representatives of the melnyk estate and new york-based sports banker galatioto sports partners reached an agreement in principle with andlauer’s group on june 13 following a lengthy auction process that included four final bids for the franchise.
since then, there has been a lot of work behind the scenes, including getting a purchase agreement in place. sources say the nhl head office has completed its due diligence on andlauer and his partners.
since agreeing to buy the senators, andlauer has been kept abreast of changes in the organization. he’s in regular contact with the three-person board of directors, led by governor sheldon plener, and has kept in touch with general manager pierre dorion.
once andlauer officially takes over, it’s expected he’ll make additions to the front office, including bringing back former president cyril leeder to run the business side of the operation.
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anthony leblanc, the club’s president of business operations, resigned last month.
leeder, 63, played a significant role as an adviser in andlauer’s purchase bid. an executive at the myers’ automotive group, leeder is one of the senators franchise founders, along with ottawa businessman bruce firestone and league executive randy sexton.
postmedia reported in june that andlauer sat down with former ottawa captain daniel alfredsson to discuss a job with the senators. the talk in hockey circles is that alfredsson, a 50-year-old hockey hall of famer, would like to play a role in player development.
indications are alfredsson has had more than one discussion with andlauer since the initial get-together in ottawa two months ago and the talk in league circles is that it would be no surprise to see the best player in franchise history join the front office.
alfredsson has stated publicly he’d like to play a “meaningful role” in the front office. he was a senior advisor from 2015 to 2017.
andlauer, a health-care executive and owner of the ontario hockey league’s brantford bulldogs, has also rented a home in ottawa and plans to spend a significant amount of time here with his family while also maintaining his residence in toronto.
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andlauer is scheduled to be a guest speaker at mayor mark sutcliffe’s breakfast series on sept. 14 at ottawa city hall. that will be cancelled if the sale of the senators isn’t completed by then, but it’s believed everything should be in place in the next 10 days to two weeks.
andlauer’s partners in the deal include:
• anna and olivia melnyk, eugene melnyk’s daughters, have opted to retain a 10-per-cent share in the franchise.
• local businessman jeff york, a partner in farm boy, and his 20-plus local investors.
• the malhotra family, owners of ottawa home builder claridge homes.
• paul and michael paletta of burlington-based alinea group holdings, who have been partnered with andlauer since he initially pursued the franchise last november.
• oshawa generals owner rocco tullio is also believed to be involved with andlauer’s group.
while it had been believed toronto-based yorkville asset management would also be a partner in the purchase, league sources say that won’t be the case. the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement. as a result, andlauer brought in other partners.
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