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Let's vote on it

NHL to approve Lemieux's puchase on Wednesday

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Posted: Tuesday August 31, 1999 09:57 PM

Lemieux still needs to work out details of a $5 million investment in the team from SMG. AP

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The NHL's vote scheduled for Wednesday on Mario Lemieux's bid to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins is expected to take place before the Hall of Fame center formally takes control of team. League officials say that timetable is not unusual.

NHL spokesman Frank Brown said league approval to sell the team, if it comes, would be made contingent on the bankruptcy court in Pittsburgh also approving the deal. The league's governing body will vote in New York.

"Sometimes you move into a house that needs (to be) painted," Brown said. "This is no different."

Lemieux, who if the deal is completed will be the first athlete from a major professional franchise to buy his former team, still needs to work out details of a $5 million investment in the team from SMG, a Philadelphia-based partnership that manages the Civic Arena, where the Penguins play home games.

There were reports Tuesday night that Lemieux and SMG had reached an oral agreement and could be ready by Thursday to seek court approval for the purchase.

But there have been many delays in previous deadlines to complete the transaction, and officials close to the deal were reluctant to set another one.

Penguins' attorney Douglas A. Campbell said talks Tuesday with SMG had been productive but had not produced a final agreement. Campbell declined to elaborate on the talks, and SMG president and chief executive officer Wes Westley did not return a telephone message left for him Tuesday.

Negotiations with SMG have been the most difficult for Lemieux to resolve. The Penguins blamed the high cost of their lease with SMG to play at the arena for helping push the franchise into bankruptcy in October.

Under U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Bernard Markovitz's threat to cancel the Penguins' lease, SMG agreed to a new deal. The Penguins will pay $1.8 million a year until 2007 instead of the $6 million to $7 million annually the club had paid in previous years.

Attorney Joseph F. McDonough, who represents a bank and three life insurance companies that loaned the team $22 million, was surprised by the continuing delays.

"I'm astounded these things keep popping up," McDonough said. "We're at a practical end to the whole process."

The Penguins' training camp opens Saturday, and the first exhibition game is Sept. 11 against the New York Islanders.

 

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