Not this again...again. The Devils and Hucksterbeek's Financial Status

[Brick City]

He may assume the debt or pay it off. Either way, the removal of Vanderbeek/DAE/Devils from the debt means that that $170mm is part of the $320+mm total purchase price.

If DAE/Devils were separated from the debt, wouldn't that pretty much mean Harris is assuming it personally (or through one of his entities). Practically, I think that would be the same thing as the loans being paid off entirely.

This would be bad news.

The New York Times is contradicting the other reports that claim the debt is being taken out in the transaction. When you "assume" debt, it means that you're taking on responsibility for the existing obligation.

However, as I've mentioned before, when you get reporters that specialize in sports and dont understand the financial terms they're tossing about, they do sometime misuse terms like you're noting (i.e. claiming "8th most profitable arena in the world" when all you really know is the top-line revenue reported and thus cant make that claim).

I dont have access to NYT, is this article from their Finance Department or their Sports Department? I was surprised that this thing was emerging completely debt free, soooooooooo, this would explain my surprise if NYT is correct. Lets hope they're wrong.

Both of the reporters on the NYTimes article are sports guys. I have seen a variety of sports reports that use 'assume' and 'cover' when talking about the debt so perhaps I should not read into it too closely right now. While I still am excited about a new rich owner, my jubilation will be somewhat diminished if the vast majority of the debt isn't departing along with Vanderbeek's control of the team.

 

[ScottyK]

If Lou is removed as CEO and President and remains GM only..I give it 2 seasons before we have a gimmicky black 3rd jersey

 

[Csonked Out]

If Lou is removed as CEO and President and remains GM only..I give it 2 seasons before we have a gimmicky black 3rd jersey

I want the Green and Red ones back! Those were atrociously awesome!

 

[Bleedred]

How does this Crab Rangoon guy know so much?

What kinda authority and power does Lou lose if his spot of CEO/President is taken away?

 

[ScottyK]

How does this Crab Rangoon guy know so much?

What kinda authority and power does Lou lose if his spot of CEO/President is taken away?

He manages a bar in Lodi I believe...could be wrong on the town. But apparently a lot of Devils execs frequent it.

 

[Emperoreddy]

How does this Crab Rangoon guy know so much?

What kinda authority and power does Lou lose if his spot of CEO/President is taken away?

Jesus your nicknames.

I am only guessing, but I assume Lou would have final say in how the Devil's brand is marketed, what kind of promotions they do, kind of fan out reach, etc etc. An example is someone else could come in and basically tell Lou know that he has to open up training camp to fans (if they wanted to do that). Something like that maybe?

 

[Bleedred]

He manages a bar in Lodi I believe...could be wrong on the town. But apparently a lot of Devils execs frequent it.

To be fair, he did say Jagr was signed and it would be announced on Tuesday. He said this the weekend prior, and then that Monday, Pierre Lebrun tweeted we've signed Jagr, but it won't be announced until tomorrow. Though the Czech reporters seemed to break it before he said that. They didn't say anything about it not being announced until a certain day though.

Jesus your nicknames.

I am only guessing, but I assume Lou would have final say in how the Devil's brand is marketed, what kind of promotions they do, kind of fan out reach, etc etc. An example is someone else could come in and basically tell Lou know that he has to open up training camp to fans (if they wanted to do that). Something like that maybe?

Yeah I guess the owner/president can make those kinds of decisions. Or open the practices to the public too, most teams do that.

I wonder about the facial hair/twitter policies though? I wonder if those rules are enforced by ''GM Lou'' or ''President Lou''?

 

[Devils Trap]

NHLDevilsPR ‏@NHLDevilsPR 2m
MEDIA ADVISORY: The Devils will hold a major news conference at Prudential Center on Thursday at 11 a.m. #NJDevils #NHL

here we go

 

[indfin]

If DAE/Devils were separated from the debt, wouldn't that pretty much mean Harris is assuming it personally (or through one of his entities). Practically, I think that would be the same thing as the loans being paid off entirely.

.

I wouldn't be too concerned if Harris assumes the debt (rather than paying it off):

1) Since terms were recently renegotiated, he (Harris) may feel they are very favorable terms and he would rather keep $170mm working elsewhere and service the debt; and

2) Under almost any change of ownership scenario, the banks would likely have to sign off on the ownership change (if debt is to remain intact).

 

[Nick0930]

NHLDevilsPR ‏@NHLDevilsPR 2m
MEDIA ADVISORY: The Devils will hold a major news conference at Prudential Center on Thursday at 11 a.m. #NJDevils #NHL

here we go

Krys Barch contract extension, obviously.

 

[Bleedred]

NHLDevilsPR ‏@NHLDevilsPR 2m
MEDIA ADVISORY: The Devils will hold a major news conference at Prudential Center on Thursday at 11 a.m. #NJDevils #NHL

here we go

Sounds like we have a deal!

Thanks to Barroway for loaning JVB the $30 million. Kinda sucks he was muscled out by Harris, but that $30 million was likely significant to the signings we saw this Summer.

 

[Bleedred]

Krys Barch contract extension, obviously.

Or the long awaited Brunner signing!

 

[guyincognito]

I wouldn't be too concerned if Harris assumes the debt (rather than paying it off):

1) Since terms were recently renegotiated, he (Harris) may feel they are very favorable terms and he would rather keep $170mm working elsewhere and service the debt; and

2) Under almost any change of ownership scenario, the banks would likely have to sign off on the ownership change (if debt is to remain intact).

I doubt the debt is being assumed, this would mean JVB walks away with $300M+ free and clear. Which would be, well, it would be something.

 

[ScottyK]

I doubt the debt is being assumed, this would mean JVB walks away with $300M+ free and clear. Which would be, well, it would be something.

What a huckster

 

[BenedictGomez]

Dagoon was only right about the Kovalchuk trade. And that was not earth breaking. It was between Boston and Jersey. 50/50 chance. Oh my, he is so legit...

Incorrect. He knew the exact terms of that trade including all the minor considerations. That's not luck, the odds of guessing that are PowerBall'ish, so he obviously knew something.

Why would he pull $170 million out of somewhere else to pay off the debt, if the debt itself is on an appealing rate and term? There is no reason for him to do it.

Precisely why I was so skeptical about the terms of this "deal" as being reported by Gulitti. It doesnt make a lot of sense to me for this to emerge debt free. We'll see what happens, but I think the NYT reporting is more logical than TG's reporting.

NHLDevilsPR ‏
MEDIA ADVISORY: The Devils will hold a major news conference at Prudential Center on Thursday at 11 a.m. #NJDevils #NHL

 

[indfin]

I doubt the debt is being assumed, this would mean JVB walks away with $300M+ free and clear. Which would be, well, it would be something.

No, even if the debt is assumed, the value $170mm would be considered part of the $320mm purchase price. Analagous to you have a $100k mortgage on your house, sell it for $200k. Normally, you would (have to) pay off the $100k mortgage and you have $100k clear. However, bank could let buyer assume your mortgage ... you still only get $100k in cash, and the other $100k of your "sale price" is the elimination of your $100k debt obligation

 

[guyincognito]

No, even if the debt is assumed, the value $170mm would be considered part of the $320mm purchase price. Analagous to you have a $100k mortgage on your house, sell it for $200k. Normally, you would (have to) pay off the $100k mortgage and you have $100k clear. However, bank could let buyer assume your mortgage ... you still only get $100k in cash, and the other $100k of your "sale price" is the elimination of your $100k debt obligation

So a portion of the sale would then be "fictional". Harris pays Vanderbeek x and assumes y, making the total of the sale x+y but the only money actually moved is x?

 

[BenedictGomez]

So a portion of the sale would then be "fictional". Harris pays Vanderbeek x and assumes y, making the total of the sale x+y but the only money actually moved is x?

It's definitely not fictional, but yes.

The quick way to explain it is just to say that the remaining debt obligation changes hands, but it's still very much a part of the "sale".

 

[njdevsfn95]

Dagoon knows somethings, certainly.

The amount he piggybacked in July was quite impressive.

 

[apice3*]

He manages a bar in Lodi I believe...could be wrong on the town. But apparently a lot of Devils execs frequent it.

Not sure of the town but I'm fairly sure he doesn't own the bar anymore. He indirectly had sources. He talked to people who had sources and just relayed information. Now he just runs a terrible youtube channel and begs NHL higher ups for interviews and retweets.