Blues Owner Dave Checketts yesterday said that he "would be granted an extension" to pay back a $120M loan from a Citigroup-led syndicate, "giving him more time to sell" the team, according to Soshnick & Kuriloff of BLOOMBERG NEWS. Checketts said he has three "very strong" bidders, but did not identify them. He added that he "never missed a payment on the loan, which was due June 30," and that the banks "wanted to know when they could expect repayment by getting an update on the sale process." Checketts "wouldn't disclose details of the pending extension," saying that he and the banks "have agreed to confidentiality." He noted that he "wants to complete the sale by the end of the year" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 7/6). In St. Louis, Jeremy Rutherford notes a group led by Blues minority owner Tom Stillman "has made the only known offer" to buy the team, but it was "rejected by the NHL." Sources said that Stillman's group, which includes his father-in-law, former U.S. Sen. Jack Danforth, "remains interested in purchasing the club" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 7/7).
