Report: Devils co-owner to offload stake
In a stunning development, New Jersey Devils co-owner Ray Chambers has agreed to pay $25 million to unload his 47 percent stake in the team, the New York Post reported Saturday, citing sources close to the situation.
Team lenders will get the cash as part of a deal to refinance the franchise’s debt — and principal owner Jeffrey Vanderbeek will get Chambers’ stake in the team, sources said.
The strange deal highlights both the shaky financial condition of the Newark-based team and the caustic relationship between the two owners.
As the deal is structured, Chambers, who has been looking to exit the mostly money-losing franchise for about a year, appears to feel the equity in the NHL team is worthless.
It also means that billionaire Chambers, through his Brick City operation, is tired of pumping money into the troubled team.
People close to Chambers said he was never interested in making a profit from his Devils investment — but simply to help redevelop Newark.
Under NHL rules, Chambers is on the hook for any cash infusion the Devils might need as long as he is listed as the owner, sources said.
The sale of Chambers' stake in Devils Arena Entertainment also includes his piece of the company that operates the Prudential Center, the Newark arena where the Devils, New Jersey Nets and New York Liberty play.
The co-owners need approval from the Devils lending group, and the NHL, to close the deal, which is no sure thing, sources said.
A Chambers spokesman and the Devils did not return calls.