Latest updates on the team sale

[Mr. Scot]

An article from Albert Breer on the team sale.  Breer's analysis includes info gleaned from whispers heard from owners at the NFL meetings.

Panthers should have a new owner by May

Highlights:

Quote

According to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation, the league expects in April to have a buyer selected for the Carolina Panthers, who are up for sale now in the wake of misconduct allegations involving owner Jerry Richardson. The plan is to have the buyer vetted and ready to be voted on at the spring meeting in May.

The league expects Jerry Richardson to pick his chosen buyer in April.  Katie Peralta had previously thought the winner might be selected before the end of March but it appears that won't happen just yet.

This ultimately still leads to the approval vote happening in May.

 

Quote

The goal, according to sources, has been to get the bidding for the team into the range of $2.6 billion. (The last NFL franchise to go on the market, the Bills, sold for $1.4 billion in 2014.) It’s unclear at this point whether or not Richardson will get that $2.6 billion figure, but two potential buyers have emerged from the fray.

The target threshold for the sale is said to be 2.6 billion. Latest news had indicated that the bidding had already reached 2.5 (just a hundred million to go).

 

Quote

The favorite from the beginning has been hedge fund manager David Tepper, a Steelers minority owner whom NFL owners have long believed to be well-equipped to join their ranks. Tepper’s capital (Forbes places his net worth at $11 billion) would give him the ability not just to write the checks necessary to buy the team, but also to invest back into the team and the league.

The larger question has been how much Tepper wants in, which has opened the door for an aggressive bid from South Carolina businessman Ben Navarro.

Tepper and Navarro are still the prime contenders. Tepper is the favorite, but Navarro's bid is described as "aggressive".  Putting this together with the New York Times article, it appears the reported high bid of 2.5 billion might have actually come not from Tepper, but Navarro.

 

Quote

Navarro founded Sherman Financial, and two sources confirmed that the NFL is now vetting him. There was concern on the part of some owners over how Navarro made his money—a piece of it was in debt collection—and a case he settled in New York in 2014 over “repeatedly bringing improper debt collection actions against New York consumers.”

That the NFL has begun the vetting process with Navarro, which is a pretty clear sign that they take his bid seriously. Tepper is already vetted since he is a part owner of the Steelers. 

 

Quote

There are other Panthers suitors on the fringes, one being mining industry executive Alan Kestenbaum, who is backed by Canadian investors. Another source said that Fanatics owner Michael Rubin’s bid, which reports also linked to Sean “Diddy” Combs, is not dead yet, but it’s becoming increasingly less likely to succeed, in part because of Richardson’s own feelings about who to sell the team to. There is believed to be a fifth bidder involved, though that group’s identity has been kept quiet.

Confirmed that Rubin is still around (sort of) but considered unlikely to get back in the thick of it, and apparently not just because of money. It seems Jerry Richardson may not like the idea of selling to him.

Besides Kestenbaum - who Breer describes as "on the fringe" - Breer says there may be a fifth bidder who is publicly unidentified as yet (The Times article says there are six). Speculation would make me think that's Jim Goodnight, but his name isn't mentioned.

There's also no mention of Felix Sabates. At this point, I'm pretty sure whatever group / financing he was trying to put together never actually materialized.

 

Quote

Ultimately, the choice is up to Richardson, or at least it will be in advance of the vote to approve the new ownership group—which requires a three-quarters vote from the clubs.

If all goes according to plan, wherever this takes the Panthers, it looks like that vote is right around the corner.

Stay tuned.

[TheSpecialJuan]

Some real interesting info by Breer.

[The Huddler]

Brass balls, come on down!!

[Mr. Scot]

6 minutes ago, The Huddler said:

Brass balls, come on down!!

Very real possibility, but it sounds like Ben Navarro isn't going down without a fight.

[Adb6368]

Why would anyone want to sell to Diddy who thought he was going to buy the 'North Carolina Panthers'? I mean, it's not like he was buying an NBA G-League team. This is the same team that was in the SB 2 years ago. He was putting out a statement wanting to buy a team and couldn't even get the name right. 

[TheSpecialJuan]

The is quite exciting. Usually there is a major lull right after the draft. Not this year if you're a Panthers fan.

[PeteRozelle]

the .1 in 2.6 billion is actually 100 million not just 1 million

 

 

[pan01]

34 minutes ago, Adb6368 said:

Why would anyone want to sell to Diddy who thought he was going to buy the 'North Carolina Panthers'? I mean, it's not like he was buying an NBA G-League team. This is the same team that was in the SB 2 years ago. He was putting out a statement wanting to buy a team and couldn't even get the name right. 

Diddy said 'Charlotte Panthers'

[t96]

I'm pulling for Navarro over Tepper, but would be fine with either.

[PantherCam213]

6 minutes ago, pan01 said:

Diddy said 'Charlotte Panthers'

He may have said that in another quote, but in his initial statement he said he wanted to bid on the North Carolina Panthers.

[Mr. Scot]

33 minutes ago, PeteRozelle said:

the .1 in 2.6 billion is actually 100 million not just 1 million

 

 

You guys and your maths...

(I'll fix it)

[Mr. Scot]

3 minutes ago, thomas96 said:

I'm pulling for Navarro over Tepper, but would be fine with either.

Seems like Navarro wants it pretty bad.

If Tepper wants it equally as bad, he probably wins. If not, Navarro might just get his wish.

[moresouthernthanyou]

Isn't Navarro's business one the NFL would find embarrassing or "beneath" the other owners.  I thought he was a debt collector.

[countryboi]

Everything that's going on with the sell of the team and all anyone wants to talk about is Sean Combs.