BREAKING NEWS: Ice Edge, Reinsdorf Sign Memoranda Of Understanding

The head of Ice Edge Holdings says the company has signed a memorandum of understanding ((MOU)) on a new lease with the city of Glendale that is the next step in the possible purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes.

The Glendale city council is scheduled to vote on the proposal Tuesday. Ice Edge Holdings Chief Executive Officer Anthony LeBlanc says there still is a lot of work to be done to get the lease agreement.

There was no immediate word whether the group headed by Jerry Reinsdorf has followed through on signing an MOU.

PM UPDATE: Mike Sunnucks with the Phoenix Business Journal reports Reinsdorf has signed an MOU as well. But here's where the fun starts...

1) Reinsdorf wants a name change to either the "Arizona" or "Glendale" Coyotes
2) He wants a tax district that will be able to collect revenue and issue bonds against the district itself. The district would then pay the NHL over US$20M in three seasons and set up a reserve fund to combat possible losses.
3) The five-year out clause
4) Taking over arena operations, but having the City of Glendale still pay the bond debt
5) Charging for parking

Ice Edge wants a tax district, to charge for parking, ticket surcharges for events, a possible name change, and the ability to buy the arena if it ever goes up for sale.

But the key Sunnucks paragraph is this one:

Daryl Jones, chief operating officer of Ice Edge, said his group hopes to turn the memorandum of understanding with the city into a formal lease deal that would enable his group to get financing to buy the team.

Whoops...

PM UPDATE: Rebekah Sanders of the Arizona Republic has her wrap of the day out.
The Glendale city council is voting on the two proposals Tuesday. Ice Edge's deal with the city doesn't have a clause in it that would call for a move of the franchise if the venture is still unprofitable.

If the two ownership groups are approved, then they would go to the NHL for review.

Reinsdorf wants to purchase the team for US$65M. Ice Edge wants to purchase the franchise for somewhere in the neighborhood of US$140-150M.

The CBC's Tom Harrington brings up an issue on his Twitter page: "NHL owners wouldn't let Bettman sell for less than league paid so not sure how Reinsdorf's 65m can satisfy that."

Interesting... but the HQ still think this whole process is rigged...