Anatomy Of The Bolts Deal

By TED JACKOVICS The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 8, 2007

TAMPA - On a June night, two close friends, a developer from South Florida and a longtime National Hockey League coach and general manager, got together in Columbus, Ohio, to renew family ties and watch the deciding game of the Stanley Cup on TV.

Jeff Sherrin, a real estate investor from Coral Springs, and Doug MacLean, a former Columbus Blue Jackets president and general manager, were business partners and neighbors in the Miami area when MacLean coached the Florida Panthers from 1995 through 1998.

As they watched the Anaheim Ducks celebrate their 2007 Stanley Cup victory, from MacLean's Ohio home, they could not resist thinking aloud what it might be like to one day own a hockey team and enjoy the same moment.

Two months later, Sherrin, 51, MacLean, 53, and Hollywood producer Oren Koules, 46, had bought a major league franchise that was not even for sale in June - the Tampa Bay Lightning, another Stanley Cup team.

By the time the deal was inked, Koules, who played minor league hockey before becoming a Hollywood producer, had joined as an investment partner. The group expects to add five or six other principal investors.

How the deal came together appears to be a story dreamed up in Hollywood. It required more than a little magic for Sherrin and MacLean to launch a bid and round up partners with financial muscle and hockey interest, all the while keeping the project under wraps despite insiders stretching from Detroit to Tampa and Los Angeles to Toronto.

"It happened so quickly, I first saw some of the property we got in the deal just yesterday," Sherrin said in an interview Tuesday.

The newly created ownership group, Absolute Hockey Enterprises, and the seller, Palace Sports & Entertainment led by 84-year-old Detroit business and sports magnate William Davidson, won't announce financial terms of the deal until it gains NHL approval.

The purchase includes the Lightning hockey team, which won the Stanley Cup in 2004 and drew an average of 19,877 fans last season, the lease with Hillsborough County for the St. Pete Times Forum, and two land parcels totaling 5.5 acres east and west of the arena that have been used for parking.

It's a deal with no shortage of financial questions, since Lightning Chairman and Governor Tom Wilson said Tuesday the team has lost "north of $60 million" under Davidson's ownership, which began in 1999. The Lightning have posted losses every season except 2004 as a small-market team in a league that's struggled for national media exposure and revenue streams to sustain player payrolls.

The Forum annually ranks among the top U.S. venues in concert attendance and for other events, but Lightning President Ron Campbell said Tuesday that does not equate to big profit.

'Working Through The Night'

Sherrin says he can't ice skate, but he clearly has a nose for business. He and a group of partners developed and own numerous ventures including a resort outside Walt Disney World. He also has launched an Internet travel company and developed the Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores outlet near Orlando.

"I'm the only one without a real hockey background, but I've been interested in the sport for a long time, especially since I got to know Doug when he was coaching in Miami," Sherrin said.

The 2007 Stanley Cup finale on June 6 between Anaheim and Ottawa set the tone for the quick deal.

"Right when Anaheim was raising the trophy, Doug and I looked at each other and said, 'Wouldn't it be incredible if we ever owned a great NHL team,'" Sherrin recalled.

The next day, Sherrin called a New York consultant he knew who had worked with the Lightning.

"He made it very clear the Lightning was not for sale," Sherrin said. "I have learned not to take no for an answer, so I asked to please check if there might be any interest."

Five days passed with no response; then Sherrin got a call saying Davidson might be interested but wanted answers to myriad questions.

"We worked nightly and started to put things together, getting one or two hours' sleep at night," Sherrin said.

Meanwhile, MacLean's brother, on Prince Edward Island in Canada, knew someone in the recording business there, and they knew about Koules, the Hollywood producer.

Koules, a former commodities trader on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, had played in the Western Hockey League. He left Chicago in 1992 and launched a Hollywood career, creating the popular and successful horror film franchise "Saw" and the TV show "Two and a Half Men" with Charlie Sheen.

Hockey remains in his blood. "It's not a toy for us," Koules said Tuesday about the Lightning purchase. "This is our job."

Sale Is 'The Ultimate Compliment'

MacLean, who brings the most hockey experience to the new group, said the deal was unusual because his group is replacing a successful group.

The investment group reached a final agreement with Davidson on Friday during a conference call.

"We thought it was the ultimate compliment that Mr. Davidson took such care in wanting the team to be in the right hands," Sherrin said. "I think our ownership group will be the only one to actually be in the trenches day to day."

Irwin Kishner, a lawyer in the sports entertainment practice at Herrick, Feinstein LLP in New York, said the Lightning deal is remarkable because it was handled more quickly and quietly than many other major sports franchise sales he's seen.

"This was really fast," Kishner said. "I've never seen a deal in one of the majors happen this quickly "

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at tjackovics@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7817.