JON BON JOVI: Out Of Toronto-Based Group Bidding For NFL's Buffalo Bills
August 31, 2014
According to the New York Post, Bon Jovi frontman Jon Bon Jovi is out of group bidding for the Buffalo Bills.
The rocker and the deep-pocketed Toronto-based sports team owners who are bidding for the Buffalo Bills have parted way, sources close to the situation said Friday.
The remaining entities in the group - Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which controls the NHL's Maple Leafs and NBA's Raptors, and Edward Rogers, chairman of Rogers Communications - believe they are in a stronger position to win the Bills auction without Bon Jovi, sources said.
The New Jersey rocker had led the group, a source close to the situation said. As the lead bidder, Bon Jovi would have been the principal owner and therefore, under NFL rules, would have to put up 30 percent of the purchase price.
With Bon Jovi's net worth at roughly $300 million, according to sources, the group's highest bid would have been capped at about $1.1 billion.
With rival bidder Terry Pegula, a fracking billionaire, said to be willing to push a bid toward $1.2 billion or higher, the Toronto group, with Bon Jovi, feared it was bound to lose, sources said.
"Rogers is very serious" about buying the team, another source close to the process said.
There have been recent media reports about the Toronto bid falling apart - but in reality it is reforming, sources said.
Deep-pocketed Donald Trump is still in the bidding, as well. Final bids are due next week.
Morgan Stanley, the investment bank selling the Bills, has been trying to help Bon Jovi find new backers, sources said. Bon Jovi and Tanenbaum spokespeople did not return calls.
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