It's official: Molsons to buy Habs
It seems like the sale of the Montreal Canadiens is a done deal now.
The Habs will be back in the hands of the Molson family.
The current owner, George Gillett, and Geoff Molson put out a joint statement yesterday saying they have an agreement in principle for the Molsons to buy the club.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says he likes the deal, which is subject to approval by the league's board of governors.
It's expected to be completed by late August.
The sale price is reported to be at least $500 million US, and possibly $550 million. It would be by far the priciest sale of a team in NHL history.
The Molsons already own 20 percent of the team, after it sold the rest of it to Gillett in 2001.
There were two other strong bids for the team -- from Stephen Bronfman and from a consortium led by Quebecor, which had been propped up by Céline Dion's husband René Angelil and The FTQ Solidarity Fund.
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