The "planned closing" of Puck Holdings' $175M
acquisition of the Devils "has been delayed, but the deal is
still alive," according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y.
TIMES. The sale had been scheduled to close July 12 but
will not "be final for a few weeks." But YankeeNets Chair
Harvey Schiller said, "In my mind there is no doubt [the
deal will go through]." Sandomir notes that the delay in
the sale is "being caused by the time needed" for Puck
Holdings' principals and YankeeNets part-Owners Lewis Katz
and Ray Chambers to "assemble as many as six or eight
additional investors" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/20). Schiller: "The
nature of biz is to always look for investors. We're
talking to people every day" (BLOOMBERG, 7/19).
YANKEENETS TOLD TO HOLD ON: BLOOMBERG's Bloom & Newman
report that YankeeNets has been "barred from starting" a RSN
for two weeks under a restraining order approved by NY
Supreme Court Judge Barry Cozier. The order was "agreed
upon by attorneys for" Cablevision's MSG Network, which
filed suit against the Yankees last week claiming the right
to match any final offer for the team's TV rights. The
restraining order expires July 31. Schiller: "We tried to
reach out and negotiate, but I guess it wasn't good enough.
We'll certainly sit down and talk to them now with the hope
of settling this before the hearing" (BLOOMBERG, 7/19).
