Report: Kings owner Ranadivé in the mix for Senators?
Published
Another prominent name is reportedly in the mix for the Ottawa Senators.
According to Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch, Sacramento Kings owner and chairman Vivek Ranadivé could be in the bidding process for the NHL team, as he visited the nation's capital on Tuesday to tour the Canadian Tire Centre and meet with senior management, as well as officials from New York-based banker Galatioto Sports Partners (GSP), the group selling the team.
A source told Garrioch that Ranadivé has been looking at the Senators and has been “circling for a while” but was not sure if he made a non-binding offer for the team at the March 6th deadline.
Ranadivé is a Silicon Valley technology entrepreneur who sold his share in the Golden State Warriors in May 2013 to purchase the Kings with then-Pittsburgh Penguins owner Ron Burkle and American businessman Mark Mastrov.
Ranadivé, 65, made a bid to purchase Chelsea FC last year, but lost out to Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly who bought the club for $3.2 billion.
Garrioch reported last month that other interested groups include Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos with Windsor-based construction/land developer and Oshawa Generals owner Rocco Tullio, Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds and The Remington Group led by Markham-based developer Christopher Bratty, a group led by Montreal Canadiens minority owner Michael Andlauer, Toronto billionaires Jeffrey and Michael Kimel of the Harlo Financial Group, Los Angeles-based producer Neko Sparks, along with businessman and owner of The Hockey News Graeme Roustan and First Nation's Group.
The Senators announced last November – eight months after the passing of owner Eugene Melnyk – that the team was officially up for sale and that any new ownership would not be allowed to move the franchise out of the city. Los Angeles-based magazine Sportico valued the Senators at $655 million last October, while NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly estimated that the sale price will be more than $800 million and could eclipse $1 billion.
Following his day at Ottawa's City Hall and reviewing the proposed site for a potential new downtown arena last month, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman met with the media and offered very little with regards to the sale of the Senators, saying only that there are about half a dozen candidates still in the mix to purchase the club.
“I would categorize both meetings as very constructive and an opportunity to get better acquainted, and to make sure the lines of communication are open,” Bettman said.
He described the process for the sale of the franchise as "robust" and that the level of interest expressed has been "meaningful." Bettman also said it should take about another six weeks to be finalized. He did add that midsummer is the likely time frame for final approval.