By Jeffrey McCracken and Hugo Miller - Dec 9, 2011 8:43 PM GMT+0700
Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI/B) and BCE Inc. (BCE) are close to announcing a deal to buy the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s 80 percent stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. for about $1.3 billion, said a person familiar with negotiations.
The deal may be announced as soon as today, said the person, who declined to be identified as the process is private.
Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team and the Raptors basketball club, plans a “major announcement” at 9:30 a.m. today at the Air Canada Centre arena in Toronto, according to a statement.
In addition to the National Hockey League’s Maple Leafs, which have won the Stanley Cup championship 11 times, and the National Basketball Association’s Raptors, Maple Leaf Sports owns Toronto FC of Major League Soccer.
The Toronto Sun and Globe and Mail reported the possible sale earlier today. Representatives for BCE, Rogers, Maple Leaf and Teachers’ didn’t immediately respond to calls seeking comment.
The Maple Leafs are the NHL’s most valuable franchise at about $521 million, Forbes said Nov. 30, up from $505 million a year ago. The Raptors are worth $399 million, placing them 10th out of 30 NBA franchises, Forbes said in January.
A sale of the Maple Leafs and Raptors must be approved by the NHL and NBA. BCE would have to divest its 18 percent stake in the Montreal Canadiens hockey team, the Toronto Sun newspaper said.
Canada’s third-biggest pension fund said in March that it may sell its majority stake in the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association teams after receiving unsolicited expressions of interest. The fund, based in Toronto, then said last month it would keep its stake in Maple Leaf Sports.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeffrey McCracken in New York at jmccracken3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jennifer Sondag at jsondag@bloomberg.net
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment