Person with knowledge of negotiations says Ice Edge about to buy Coyotes

AP Source: Ice Edge on brink of buying Coyotes

PHOENIX — A person with knowledge of the negotiations says the Ice Edge investment group is on the brink of buying the financially floundering Phoenix Coyotes from the NHL.

The group and the NHL are expected to sign a letter of intent soon, perhaps by this weekend, said the source, who asked not to be identified because the official announcement had not been made.

Ice Edge would keep the team in Glendale, where the Coyotes have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in recent seasons.

The imminent sale was first reported Friday on The Arizona Republic Web site.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly had no comment.

The league bought the team in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for about $140 million after two other potential bidders, including Ice Edge, withdrew, largely because they could not reach an agreement on a reworked lease with the city of Glendale.

The Ice Edge deal is expected to approach $150 million, the amount it had said the group would be willing to spend.

The NHL board of governors could act on the ownership proposal at its meeting next week.

Ice Edge is a group of American and Canadian investors with five majority owners — Anthony LeBlanc, Daryl Jones, John Breslow, Keith McCullough and Todd Jordan.

LeBlanc is a former executive at Research in Motion, the Blackberry manufacturer founded by Canadian Jim Balsillie. Balsillie mounted a spirited, persistent bid to buy the Coyotes in bankruptcy court and move the team to Hamilton, Ontario.

Breslow is a Las Vegas-based businessman and former Nebraska state auditor who owned 3 percent of the Coyotes when the team went into bankruptcy protection.

Judge Redfield T. Baum eventually threw out Balsillie’s offer, saying he was unwilling to overrule the NHL owners who had overwhelmingly rejected the Canadian as an owner. LeBlanc has said that Balsillie has nothing to do with Ice Edge.

The other potential bidder in bankruptcy court, a group headed by Chicago sports mogul Jerry Reinsdorf, did not pursue the team after the NHL purchased it.