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St. Louis Blues sale deadline yields multiple offers to purchase franchise

TJ Oshie, Andy McDonald

St. Louis Blues’ TJ Oshie, left, is congratulated by teammate Andy McDonald (10) after his goal against the Nashville Predators in the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, April 9, 2011, in St. Louis. The Blues won 2-0. (AP Photo/Bill Boyce)

AP

While the Phoenix Coyotes try to get their sale status figured out, the St. Louis Blues’ deadline for purchase offers came and went yesterday. Unlike the Coyotes, the Blues have multiple offers from parties interested in buying the team. Former Phoenix Coyotes suitor Matthew Hulsizer was believed to have interest in buying the Blues after dropping his bid on the Coyotes.

Hulsizer, of course, is the man who wanted to buy the Phoenix Coyotes but was chased off by legal red tape and the Goldwater Institute in Glendale as his offer to purchase the Coyotes required the city to sell $100 million worth of bonds. As Jeremy Rutherford notes on the offers the Blues did get, the CEO of Summit Distributing Tom Stillman, is believed to be one of the guys in the mix.

The Post-Dispatch confirmed through a source Monday that Stillman, who is the owner and CEO of St. Louis-based Summit Distributing, has submitted a second bid. It was not confirmed whether Hulsizer, CEO of the Chicago-based financial services firm PEAK6, made a follow-up bid before the deadline.

Stillman’s original offer in April was approximately $110 million, according to sources. The amount of Stillman’s second bid was not disclosed, but it’s believed to be in the same neighborhood.


That $110 million offer is well below the original $200 million outgoing owner Dave Checketts originally thought he could get for the team and lower than the $180 million they figured they could net during this push for buyers. That shaky market is obviously having its effect even on a team that draws great the way the Blues do. Even without sustained success over the last few years, the Blues continue to fill Scottrade Center with fans.

As for Hulsizer, Rutherford believes that while he may or may not have put in an offer this time around, he’s not out of the picture by any means. Game Plan LLC, the company hired out to find a new owner, could forego this means of bidding for a buyer and end up negotiating with Hulsizer or others directly instead. It’s fun how millionaires and billionaires can just toss money around like that without an issue.

The facts here are that the Blues are eager to get someone new in place and have hopes they can do it before the season starts in October. Whoever is seeking to buy the team is going to have to get a move on things to make it happen before then. This step in the process is a means towards doing just that.