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Peter Pocklington's 1976 union with the Edmonton Oilers began the way most marriages do--with gifts. He purchased the team with his wife's 12-carat diamond ring and a Renoir painting, along with assumption of a $1.4-million bank loan and another $1 million. Twenty-one years later, the controversial sports baron wants out, citing dollars as a reason for the divorce. "The only problems I've ever had with the Oilers are money problems," he told a news conference two weeks ago. Those money problems include a substantial debt to the Alberta Treasury Branches. The bank's determination to wipe out bad loans is believed to be a major factor behind Mr. Pocklington's sudden decision to sell the Oilers. On the block are the National Hockey League club, a minor league hockey franchise and Coliseum Management Inc. (CMI). Mr. Pocklington opened bidding at US$85 million. By late last week, an anonymous group of well-heeled Edmontonians who are reportedly interested in buying the team had not yet come forward. Most of the interest, according to Mr. Pocklington, is coming from south of the border. At the news conference, Mr. Pocklington projected that a new owner might earn a $5-million profit next year, even though he claims the team lost $7 million this year. The $12-million difference led to speculation about the true state of Mr. Pocklington's indebtedness and whether the Edmonton businessman jumped to sell the team before being pushed into receivership by the ATB. The 55-year-old businessman claim-ed in an interview last week the Oilers have lost more than $45-million in the past six years. As well, Mr. Pocklington says he borrowed an additional $16 million in 1994 to renovate the Edmonton Coliseum. Most estimates peg his ATB debt at roughly $50 million, although well-placed sources say that, including loan guarantees, he is in for more than $100 million. "No," says Mr. Pocklington, "the bank hasn't come to grab me." He adds that rumours of $120 million in debt are "exaggerations." While refusing to be specific, he says US$85 million would retire his ATB debts and "leave something" for Revenue Canada. However, Mr. Pocklington's statements to other media hint that the ATB pushed him to sell now and abandon a public share issue planned for the fall. A June 6 Edmonton Sun article quotes Mr. Pocklington saying: "The bank has said to me they'd like me to pay them down or pay them off....I agreed to their request to pay them down or pay them off in an orderly, businesslike way." "I can't talk about Mr. Pocklington specifically," says ATB spokesman Darlene Dickinson. "What I can say is that he has decided to put the Oilers up for sale and we will be closely involved with any sale." Nor would she comment on rumours that John Ramsey, recently appointed CEO of the Edmonton Oilers, was an ATB appointment, sent to protect the bank's interests. Mr. Pocklington says Mr. Ramsey was a mutual choice. Edmonton auto dealer Don Wheaton, touted as a possible buyer of the team, speculates Mr. Pocklington probably wanted to keep the team. "He's an optimist, but the Treasury Branch might have been tired of waiting. I assume they gave him six or eight months or they'd get more involved," he says. As for himself, Mr. Wheaton will not swallow the team whole and doubts he would join a consortium, similar to the nine-member group which owns the Calgary Flames. Crystal Glass owner Ed Bean says he might take a piece of the Oilers, but only if someone with deep pockets bought half: "This is one of those deals that the big boys have to play--I'm talking Telus, Molson or Shaw Cable." However, Telus Corp. is not interested, and phone calls to rumoured suitors such as Shaw Communications Inc., furniture magnate Bill Comrie and Saville Systems president Bruce Saville were either not returned or met with a terse "no comment." Potential buyers are waiting for more information, due out this week when Midland Walwyn Capital of Toronto releases a private prospectus. The numbers in that prospectus are crucial, since how much the Oilers package is worth seems to depend on who is talking. The US$85 million figure was eclipsed last week when Mr. Pocklington said Les Alexander, owner of the NBA's Houston Rockets, offered US$95 million in one of 10 calls he says he has received from interested U.S. cities. The Quebec Nordiques were sold in 1995 for US$75 million and shipped to Denver, while the Winnipeg Jets flew to Phoenix last year in a US$65-million deal. The valuation of the Oilers will depend in part on whether the team can be moved to a lucrative U.S. market. It is unclear whether a 1994 location agreement between the Oilers, Northlands and the city will force the new owner to keep the team in Edmonton until 2004. Another uncertainty is the financial health of the Oilers and Mr. Pocklington's other companies. Coliseum Management Inc. pays the city $2.8 million in annual rent on the coliseum, but a ticket tax reduced the rental cost last year to less than $1 million. In return, CMI fills its coffers with revenue from concerts, circuses and conventions. According to Doug Piper, executive vice-president of Edmonton Oilers business operations, CMI had revenues of $15 million last year and an operating profit of between $3 and $4 million. CMI senior vice-president Tom Cornwall confirms the revenue figure but will not discuss profits, except to say that after management fees charged by Pocklington Financial Corp., CMI was "almost" profitable. In other words, Mr. Pocklington's management fees may have pushed CMI into the red. In the past, he has drawn exorbitant management fees from his companies, ranging from $2 million paid by the Oilers in 1987 and 1988 to $480,000 a year in advisory fees paid last year by Canbra Foods Ltd. of Lethbridge, in which Mr. Pocklington has a 53% stake. Mr. Cornwall would not disclose what Pocklington Financial Corp. currently charges CMI in management fees. As for the Oilers, the Edmonton Journal last week quoted Glen Sather pegging 1996-97 Oilers expenses, including player salaries, travel, hotels, arena rent and minor-league costs, at $33 million. He gave no estimate for head office salaries, management fees or debt servicing. Revenues were estimated at $40 million. If Mr. Pocklington's calculation of a $7-million loss for the past season is accurate, that means $47 million came out of Oiler operations. The owner would not say whether the team posted a profit before management fees and debt-servicing costs were taken out. A new owner not encumbered by debt might run the team in the black, although rising player salaries, from $26 million this year to an estimated $40 million in 1999, would likely cause a financial headache. The franchise hopes more television revenue and corporate sponsorships will beef up the other side of the ledger. How much Puck eventually gets for the team will depend on one other valuable Oilers' commodity: Glen Sather. Doug Piper says if the club president and general manager stays, a new owner is getting a tremendous deal: "[Sather] spends a lot less money than most, his eye for talent is uncanny and he's pretty damn loyal." Mr. Sather says that decision is up to a new owner and he has not yet talked to any potential buyer: "I'm wide open to any proposals, though." --Mark Milke