NDP loaning David Asper 75M or 90M - Good or Bad idea?

grumpy old man wrote:What? Who said the Bombers were worth $90 million?

Now the Province is proposing a "bridge" loan of $90 million to be repaid by 2016.

Once paid up he will own BOTH the stadium and the Bombers.

The deal included a clause in the contract that should Asper wish to get out of the football/stadium business it would revert to community ownership. I suspect there was a buy-back clause agreed to up front.

GGF wrote:I haven't seen any of that yet...

Deank wrote:fine for the stadium and the bombers.

That worth 90 million yet?

GGF wrote:So how much is the buy back clause worth to have the community buy back the Bombers etc GOM?

GOM you wrote:

The deal included a clause in the contract that should Asper wish to get out of the football/stadium business it would revert to community ownership. I suspect there was a buy-back clause agreed to up front.

I wrote:
I haven't seen any of that yet...

And then you wrote GOM:

I have.

Then I wrote:

So how much is the buy back clause worth to have the community buy back the Bombers etc GOM?

And now GOM you wrote:

And you think I know because??????? Spekulayshun and exaggeration is a mugs game. Something you like to engage in.

It appears Premier Greg Selinger is having a hard time understanding the very deal he signed last week with businessman David Asper and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to build a new football stadium.

When grilled by reporters on the deal Tuesday at the legislature, a befuddled Selinger insisted Asper would have to decide whether he wants to buy the Bombers for $90 million before he builds his proposed, high-end retail complex in Polo Park.

Wrong.

“When he gets access to develop that shopping centre and finances it, he has to make a choice whether he wants to own the team and finance it at that stage of the game,” said Selinger.

“He will get access to the land when he buys it, but when he decides to go ahead with the shopping mall and build it, he has to make the decision of whether he wants to elect to pay out the mortgage and take ownership of the Bombers.”

No, he doesn’t. The memorandum of understanding says Asper plans to open the first phase of his retail complex in 2013 and that he has until March 1, 2016, to decide whether he wants to buy the Bombers.

It’s an important point because what this deal is really about is Asper getting exclusive access to the Polo Park land where the current stadium now sits. Under the deal, Asper can buy the land from the city at an artificially low price, build a retail complex on that site and never pay a cent on the $90-million taxpayer “loan.” When reminded of the 2016 date, Selinger corrected himself, sort of.

“That’s right, he gets that five years to do it,” he said. “He gets the decision within five years, he has to elect that option to take ownership of the team, that’s the deal.”

But when asked for clarification, Selinger muddled his answer even further.

“They get the opportunity to develop the land (at Polo Park) but when they make their final financial arrangements on developing the land, they have to finalize within five years their decision to pay out the mortgage,” he said.

No, that’s not right, either. Regardless of when Asper builds (or doesn’t build) or when he “finalizes” his retail complex, there is a hard date — March 1, 2016 — where he must decide whether he wants to buy the Bombers for $90 million.

It has nothing to do with when he builds or doesn’t build his shopping complex.

In other words, Asper can build his retail complex at Polo Park on cheap land without any intention of buying the Bombers.

When pressed further on the issue, Selinger then said he wasn’t sure whether Asper was allowed to build his retail complex before committing to buying the Bombers.

“I’d have to check the detail on the specifics of that,” said Selinger.

Pardon?

Either the premier doesn’t understand the deal his own government just signed, or he’s being deliberately evasive because he knows this deal makes no business sense whatsoever.

Why would Asper buy a CFL football team for $90 million plus interest?

The Bombers are not worth $10 million. The story behind the story is the Selinger government desperately wants to build a new stadium to show voters government is moving Winnipeg forward. But Selinger doesn’t want to get into the thorny public debate about taxpayers buying a new stadium for a professional sports team.

He knows that wouldn’t fly politically.

So someone concocted this elaborate scheme where taxpayers — whether it’s through property taxes, provincial government grants or both — will foot the stadium bill while making it appear there’s a private investor involved.

Neat trick.

bad idea.

However, if they are going to build the stadium, they may as well do it right. I do not think $115 million will be enough to build a state of the art sporting complex.

grumpy old man wrote:No, the price of the stadium was $135 million. Build the stadium and he gets the Bombers. Originally Asper was going to invest $100~ million of his own loot with the feds and province kicking in the rest.

Now the Province is proposing a "bridge" loan of $90 million to be repaid by 2016. Once paid up he will own BOTH the stadium and the Bombers. The deal included a clause in the contract that should Asper wish to get out of the football/stadium business it would revert to community ownership. I suspect there was a buy-back clause agreed to up front.

NOBODY was proposing ownership only of the Bombers. Certainly not at a $90 million price tag.