Toronto Bid Rejected

[Guest]

Exclusive: Toronto group bidding on Bills allowed to submit higher first bid, and must provide greater assurance it would not relocate team, sources say

The Bon Jovi/Toronto group seeking to buy the Buffalo Bills has been allowed a first-bid do-over.


In one of a bundle of surprising new developments in this melodrama, Sun Media has learned the Toronto trio is expected on Tuesday to resubmit a higher, non-binding initial bid for the Bills — probably between $1 billion and $1.1 billion.



The group also has been asked to submit greater assurances it plans to keep the Bills long-term in the Buffalo area.



Sources have told Sun Media the Bon Jovi/Toronto group’s first bid actually was rejected last week by Morgan Stanley, the investment bank conducting the sale of the NFL club for the trust of Ralph Wilson.



Until or unless they resubmit, they are out.



The reasons? The Toronto group’s bid was uncompetitively low and, perhaps as damningly, too much doubt existed within the trust, Morgan Stanley and that duo’s law firm regarding the group’s newly adopted intention to keep the NFL team in Western New York, sources say....

http://blogs.canoe.ca/krykslants/nfl/exclusive-toronto-group-bidding-on-bills-allowed-to-submit-higher-first-bid-and-must-provide-greater-assurance-it-would-not-relocate-team-sources-say/

[jimmifli]

Re: Toronto Bid Rejected

Wow. Definitely sounds like keeping the team in Buffalo is a qualifying factor (I wonder what the IRS thinks of that?). The low numbers of bidders, with only one out of town bidder hinted that might be the case. Now the only out of town bid gets shot through the heart.

Great news.

[stuckincincy]

Re: Toronto Bid Rejected

What a show biz stunt.

Jovi et al gets to sashay around, get his name in the press.

[Dr. Lecter]

Re: Toronto Bid Rejected

Wow. Definitely sounds like keeping the team in Buffalo is a qualifying factor (I wonder what the IRS thinks of that?). The low numbers of bidders, with only one out of town bidder hinted that might be the case. Now the only out of town bid gets shot through the heart.

Great news.

If that is the case, that also means Ralph did do something to keep the team here after he died.


Hmmmmmmm.......

[Skooby]

Re: Toronto Bid Rejected

There must be a clause in there that forces some level of assurance of the Bills remaining in WNY. I also guess that JBJ letter didn't away the trust because press stuff is fluff.

[Dr. Who]

Re: Toronto Bid Rejected

"A whole lot of you here need to read this!"

[gebobs]

Re: Toronto Bid Rejected

Wow. Definitely sounds like keeping the team in Buffalo is a qualifying factor (I wonder what the IRS thinks of that?). The low numbers of bidders, with only one out of town bidder hinted that might be the case. Now the only out of town bid gets shot through the heart.

Great news.

Why would the IRS care?

[WagonCircler]

Re: Toronto Bid Rejected

Where's Felch's loud ass? It's seems that this:

The reasons? The Toronto group’s bid was uncompetitively low and, perhaps as damningly, too much doubt existed within the trust, Morgan Stanley and that duo’s law firm regarding the group’s newly adopted intention to keep the NFL team in Western New York, sources say.

The latter is the most significant indication yet that a failure to provide convincing assurance of keeping the 55-year-old franchise in the Buffalo area is a potential bid-breaker in this sale, and all because of the Bills’ restrictive lease at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

If the Toronto group’s amended bid is still deemed financially insufficient, or if their non-relocation assurances fall significantly short again, its bid is dead. Otherwise, Morgan Stanley will invite the group into the final phase of the sale process, along with Terry Pegula, Donald Trump and any other qualifying late-comers the bank might yet recruit....

...would ABSOLUTELY indicate that keeping the team in WNY is a MAJOR part of the conditions of sale.

And also that these guys don't have the cash to compete.

Maybe Bon Jovi and partners should join forces with Chrissy Hynde.

You, know--PRETENDERS.

[Guest]

Re: Toronto Bid Rejected

Morgan Stanley is going to have to beg Trump and BJ to stay in this process otherwise Pegula can buy this team for under a billion.

If people believe Trump is a poser, he will not put in a bid when they become binding.

If BJ's bid is dead (which the article suggests it is and why BJ wrote that letter), why would they submit a binding bid?

There very well may be only one binding bidder and that would be Pegula.

He can bid much lower when the bids become binding.

So in the end, there will have been only one serious owner willing to keep the team in Buffalo.

I guess the news that Buffalo is in the midst of an economic renaissance is a secret.

[Generalissimus Gibby]

Re: Toronto Bid Rejected

Laus Deo

[Dr. Who]

Re: Toronto Bid Rejected

Morgan Stanley is going to have to beg Trump and BJ to stay in this process otherwise Pegula can buy this team for under a billion.

If people believe Trump is a poser, he will not put in a bid when they become binding.

If BJ's bid is dead (which the article suggests it is and why BJ wrote that letter), why would they submit a binding bid?

There very well may be only one binding bidder and that would be Pegula.

He can bid much lower when the bids become binding.

So in the end, there will have been only one serious owner willing to keep the team in Buffalo.

I guess the news that Buffalo is in the midst of an economic renaissance is a secret.

Really, all we need is one. And Pegula doesn't agree with you. He's seriously betting on the city. Doesn't cost you anything to be a cynic.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Re: Toronto Bid Rejected

A source says when Bon Jovi wrote his letter to Buffalonians, he was under the belief his group’s bid was toast. The letter was intended to be a face-saver for him, nothing more — just an attempt to get on record that he would have kept the team in Buffalo had his group’s bid won.

[WagonCircler]

Re: Toronto Bid Rejected

No, it just means the nobody out there is dumb enough to bring a knife to fight Terry P's Nuke Powered Aircraft Carrier.

And at the end of this, the city you mock will still have an NFL team, and you'll have the Argos.

Pathetic.

[WagonCircler]

Re: Toronto Bid Rejected

A source says when Bon Jovi wrote his letter to Buffalonians, he was under the belief his group’s bid was toast. The letter was intended to be a face-saver for him, nothing more — just an attempt to get on record that he would have kept the team in Buffalo had his group’s bid won.

This occurred to me when I read the letter. It seemed like one of those "I'm going to rehab to reevaluate my life" letters.

[jimmifli]

Re: Toronto Bid Rejected

Why would the IRS care?

They get the capital gains on the sale price. Overly restrictive qualifications would lead to the asset being sold for less than a fair market price, and they would want the trust to pay tax on a fair market price not the below market price it was sold for.

Given the current valuations, that doesn't seem like much of a concern, but public investigations on things like this are a great way to get your name in the paper and build a career.