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West Valley staff asks council to approve consent allowing majority owner to sell Grizzlies stake
Summary
City attorney Eric Bunderson told the council the city holds a 40% minority interest in Grizzlies Hockey Club LLC received in 2009; the majority owner seeks consent to sell assets to Pro Hockey Partners LLC and has asked that the team's new location remain confidential until the sale completes. Bunderson recommended approval at the regular meeting but said the final paperwork and proceeds were not specified.
City Attorney Eric Bunderson told the West Valley City Council on July 22 that the city holds a 40% minority interest in Grizzlies Hockey Club LLC, acquired in 2009 "in exchange for some debt that the Grizzlies owed us." Bunderson said the Grizzlies and the prospective purchaser, Pro Hockey Partners LLC, have asked that the location of the team after sale not be publicly disclosed until the transaction is complete.
Bunderson explained the legal situation to the council and described the proposed action as a consent agreement the council would be asked to study and vote on at the regular meeting. "We received 40% interest in that LLC," Bunderson said, and "the sale will result in some money back to the city, some 40% of that," but he also noted the paperwork and exact financial terms remained to be executed.
Bunderson framed the choice as pragmatic: if the majority owner sells the team's assets and the franchise departs West Valley, holding out could leave the city with a 40% interest in a franchise that no longer operates in the city. He recommended the council approve the resolution at the regular meeting to allow the majority owner to complete the sale.
The transcript records Bunderson's recommendation but does not record a formal vote on the consent agreement during the study session; Bunderson said matters of location and sale details are under confidentiality requests by the parties. The presentation did not provide a final dollar amount the city would receive; the exact proceeds and effective dates of any transfer were not specified in the discussion.
Next steps: the item was forwarded for study and scheduled for a vote at the council's regular meeting, where the consent resolution would be considered along with any final transaction documents.
