The New Jersey Devils are swimming in a mountain of debt and while that might not sound like an appealing situation to bring about any interested buyers, there’s a guy out there looking to dive in head first.
The New York Post reports that billionaire investor Nelson Peltz is interested in buying the Devils out of their $250 million debt and getting involved directly with the team. Peltz’s plan involves setting up an equity investor to buy the team should the Devils fail to restructure their debt. The Post also reports that the NHL has given approval to Peltz’s plan to acquire the team’s debt.
Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek is trying to arrange things behind the scenes to try and get a television deal worked to get $80 million to put towards the team debt and get things restructured. If he’s able to do that, Peltz might be out in the cold. Considering how poorly the money has gone with Vanderbeek to this point, the Devils are probably better off having Peltz come through with his plan.
The Devils need to get things figured out soon before it becomes a huge boondoggle in Newark to add to other financial messes around the league in Phoenix and Columbus. On the upside, Peltz is a huge hockey fan and his son was drafted by the Senators in 2009. Having a hockey fan buy a team worked out nicely in Buffalo.
(Hat tip to Kukla’s Korner on the story)