New Jersey Devils owner Jeffrey Vanderbeek is close to a deal with lenders to retain control of the cash-strapped hockey team, sources told The Post.
The proposed deal would buy Vanderbeek — who has been trying to scrounge up cash to pay off overdue loans — another two years to either refinance the team’s debt or sell the club, sources said.
The deal calls for combining the team’s debt with separate loans against Devils Arena Entertainment, which collects concession revenue from Prudential Center events, into a single $160 million loan.
The former Lehman executive dug into his own pocket to inject fresh cash into the team and raised enough from new investors to pay off a few lenders who do not want to participate in the proposed restructuring, sources said.
The details were still being hammered out last night, and the talks could fall apart, sources added.
Vanderbeek — who has been skating on thin ice since September, when the team missed an $80 million loan repayment — missed the team’s latest extension yesterday.
While lenders could still force the team into bankruptcy as a result, they are unlikely to do so, in part because they worry about getting paid back.
In a bankruptcy, the Devils would need to line up debtor-in-possession financing to operate. Typically, the bank that provides the DIP loan would jump ahead of creditors in the line to get repaid.
There’s also the possibility that the National Hockey League, which is negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, could lower player salaries for the league, which would help the team.
A Devils spokesman didn’t return an e-mail seeking comment.