Dallas investor Thomas Hicks signed a letter of agreement
Sunday to purchase the Stars for $84M, according to the DALLAS
MORNING NEWS. Under the terms of the deal, Hicks pay Stars Owner
Norm Green $79M in cash for the team and the StarCenter, the
team's practice facility that has been valued at $5-10M. Green
will also get a 10-year consulting agreement worth $5M, and he
could get a subsequent $1.5M bonus if Dallas builds a new arena
and a certain number of new NHL franchises are sold. Hicks is
free to back out until he and Green sign a "definitive" purchase
agreement by December 22. The other Dallas businessman Green had
been negotiating with, John Spano, said he was surprised by the
Green-Hicks announcement as he had presented Green with a $82.3M
package on Saturday. But Spano added, "I can't fault anyone for
accepting a higher price." NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman:
"We're delighted that Norm was able to consummate a transaction,
and I think that Tom Hicks is going to be a terrific owner. I'm
not anticipating any problems with completing this process"
(Files & Moore, DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 12/11).
