Hockey legends Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky have surfaced as potential partners in groups interested in acquiring Nike Bauer, the world's leading maker of skates and other hockey equipment.
A large number of would-be buyers, including major competitors, private equity firms and investor groups, have formally expressed interest in buying Nike's hockey division by filing letters of intent with Lazard, the Wall Street investment bank handling the transaction.
These are non-binding, involve no financial commitment and may not lead to a bid. But they show who is willing to sit down at the table.
The names of the two former superstars have shown up in separate groups prepared to go to the next phase, industry insiders say.
"There's a tremendous amount of people going to the next stage," a person familiar with the process said. "At the end of the day, there are groups that will have [former] players involved. That includes Mario and Wayne."
It would not be surprising for Gretzky or Lemieux to get involved in such a bid. Both have cultivated well-heeled friends in the investment community, their names still carry promotional value and they would almost certainly not be required to put up a dime of their own money.
Gretzky was previously an investor in a company that purchased the Hespeler skates brand and he owns a stake in Therma Blade Inc., a small maker of heated skate blades. Both involved promotion of the products rather than a cash investment.
Lemieux's partner in the Pittsburgh Penguins is California billionaire Ronald Burkle, a skilled deal maker with numerous investments in manufacturing and distribution companies.
None of the potential bidders for Nike Bauer have gone public with their interest, and the company is not talking, either.
"Unfortunately, we cannot comment on the status of the process, other than it is moving forward and there has been tremendous interest to date," Nike Bauer spokesman Steven Jones said.
The groups will now get a closer look at the company's financials and its prospects, which will determine whether they go ahead with offers.
For now, there is no money on the table, but the strong interest could lead to a price tag of up to $250-million (all currency U.S.), industry sources say.
That's well below the $395-million that Nike paid in 1995 to acquire its hockey business, consisting of Canstar Sports and its valuable Bauer and Cooper brands.
But everyone in the industry knows that Nike overpaid for the assets, based on a miscalculation of the future market for in-line skating and of hockey's growth prospects in the United States.
The sports apparel giant wrote off a large chunk of its investment in 2002.
