Ryan Reynolds will have to content himself with being co-owner of a soccer team for now. The Deadpool star was embroiled in a serious bidding war over the Ottawa Senators, and yes, Snoop Dogg is still one one of the top contenders to purchase the NHL team at the time of this writing.
According to a new report, Reynolds and the Remington Group real estate firm pulled out of the $1 billion deal after being denied an “exclusive 30-day window” to lock down a deal for a new downtown stadium before finalizing their offer. That window was denied by the firm overseeing the sale who did not want to give “preferential treatment” to any of the bidders.
Via The Athletic:
Reynolds and the Remington Group opted for this route because they were leery of getting into a pricey bidding war for the hockey club without some assurance of an amenable downtown arena deal. They did not want to get into a situation in which they spent over $1 billion (U.S.) for the hockey team, only to have the future of the downtown arena in jeopardy. They wanted assurance and clarity on the arena issue before proceeding with the purchase of the team and felt like asking for an exclusive negotiating window was the best route to achieve that goal.
According to The Athletic, Reynolds and his partners were looking at a different (and much larger) piece of land than the parcel that was already set aside for the NHL by the National Capital Commission. The plan was to “play the city and the NCC against each other” and get the best possible deal on a new stadium for the Senators.
Without the exclusive window, the purchase seemed too risky, and so went Reynolds’ dream of being a NHL owner for the time being.
(Via The Athletic)