NHL’s Coyotes Clear City Hurdle to Fund $1.7B Arena Project After Tax Flap
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One of the hurdles that the Arizona Coyotes face in their quest to build a $1.7 billion arena and entertainment complex is dispelling the narrative that owner Alex Meruelo doesn’t have the financial heft to privately fund the project.
During a presentation at a Tempe, Ariz., city council meeting earlier this month, club president Xavier Gutierrez cited letters from bankers Meruelo and the Coyotes have all done business with.
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“It speaks to our ability to execute this proposal,” Gutierrez said in an interview.
Gutierrez added that Meruelo himself has a banking license, a license to run radio and television stations, owns two casinos in Nevada, and the Coyotes.
“These are highly-regulated industries,” Gutierrez said.
“Alex Meruelo has been in business for almost 40 years. Through multiple economic cycles or recessions, he’s never been in bankruptcy, ever had a company in bankruptcy. He’s bought companies out of bankruptcy.”
The Coyotes were certainly a distressed asset when Meruelo purchased them for $300 million in 2019.
The meeting, which went deep into the evening, ended with the council voting 5-2 in favor of accepting the Coyotes’ request for proposals (RFP) to move forward and negotiate the deal all parties hope will be consummated no later than the end of the year. If that happens, the city council will vote again on the parameters of the final agreement, and the Coyotes will target 2025-26 as the first year in the new arena.
Gutierrez and company are simultaneously negotiating the deal with Tempe officials and seeking money from financial institutions to establish a still-to-be-determined debt-equity structure for how Meruelo will pay for the project. Gutierrez mentioned Citi Bank, Bank of America, PNC, and Comerica as possible partners.
The arena and practice facility are budgeted at $700 million in the first phase of the two-part development.
“No club funds. Let’s be clear, this is all Alex Meruelo,”…
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Source : yahoo
