The Walt Disney Co. has formally retained Lehman Bros. to sell its NHL team, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, sources said.
The entertainment giant held off signing the Wall Street firm to an engagement contract until after the Ducks' surprising run to the Stanley Cup Finals last month, where the club lost the title in seven games. There also had been speculation that Disney, which has said it would look to sell the club, might hold onto the franchise because of the weak market for NHL teams and because of company Chief Executive Michael Eisner's passion for hockey.
But Lehman now expects to have a financial prospectus prepared within a month and a group of buyers identified by September, these sources said. Lehman declined to comment. (See Recent NHL team sales chart)
A Walt Disney spokeswoman, Leslie Goodman, said, "We do continue to evaluate the team as part of our entire portfolio and are open to the possibility of a qualified buyer." She said Disney would not comment on the process, including whether Lehman had been hired.
Lehman, which sold Disney's Anaheim Angels for $180 million, a price that many observers saw as low, will face a tough NHL market, experts said.
"There is a lot of uncertainty out there right now," said Jeff Phillips, senior vice president of Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, which is selling a minority stake in the Nashville Predators. "There is a lot of wait-and-see out there for potential buyers who want to see what will happen with the new NHL labor agreement."
The NHL's collective-bargaining agreement with its players union expires in September 2004, and both sides have been girding for a major battle.
Normally the Ducks, launched by Disney as an expansion franchise in 1993 and named after a company movie, would fetch between $100 million and $125 million, Phillips said. But with the NHL's weak economic model and uncertain labor future, the team might go at a discount.
Gordon St. Denis, an independent sports investment banker who used to work for Lehman and is now advising two buyers on NHL purchases, agreed.
"At this time a slight discount is being applied because of the uncertainty related to the CBA," he said.
