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Update: City of Glendale has half the buyers lined up for half of the Coyotes sale bonds

Detroit Red Wings v Phoenix Coyotes

GLENDALE, AZ - OCTOBER 16: Matthew Hulsizer (C), CEO of PEAK6 Investments, attends the NHL game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena on October16, 2010 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

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It seems like there are a million variables when it comes to the ownership situation in Arizona. Is Matthew Hulsizer willing to do what it takes to buy the team and keep them in the desert? Will the Goldwater Institute sue the City of Glendale the minute the deal is about to go through? But the most important question of the moment is whether the city will be able to sell all of the necessary bonds to make the sale a possibility. Because no matter what watchdog groups or taxpayers say, if the bonds aren’t sold, then the deal will never happen.

The news out of Glendale is they are halfway there.

According to reports, half the city has investors lined up and willing to pay for $50 million worth of the sales bonds. Under the framework agreement for the sale, Hulsizer and the City of Glendale have agreed to sell $100 million in bonds to help the Chicago businessman purchase the NHL team and keep them in Jobing.com Arena. Once all $100 million worth of bonds have been sold to investors, then we’ll see if the Goldwater Institute will follow through on their promise to sue to block the sale. The City of Glendale and their spokeswoman do not seem concerned (from the Phoenix Business Journal):

“…the city believes the bond deal and a $97 million arena management outlay to Hulsizer are legal, and several legal opinions are in agreement. ‘You’ve got one entity who says it’s not.’ Frisoni said.

Depending on how you look at it, the sale of bonds is either one of the last steps in this process or it’s only the first. Some people will say this story that began with Jerry Moyes, Jim Balsillie, and bankruptcy court is nearing an end with every additional investor who agrees to purchase the bonds. On the other hand, some will say this is only the first step in the actual sale of the team. Everything before the bond sales were just preliminary agreements—the sale of bonds are where we find out if it’s is really fiscally possible to make the numbers work in Phoenix.

We’ve found that half of the bonds fairly quickly—but like everyone says, the first $50 million is always the easiest.