The New Jersey Devils, which missed a $100 million principal loan payment Sept. 1, have taken a small step toward a financial recovery after principal owner Jeff Vanderbeek reached an agreement to purchase co-owner Ray Chambers’ 47-percent stake in the franchise, The Post has learned.
The deal for Chambers’ stake, which had been on the market for more than eight months, helps steady the Devils’ ownership situation — but the heavily-indebted NHL team must still work to restructure it debt.
The team’s lenders have not yet agreed to refinance the Devils’ loans which are in default, a source close to the situation told The Post.
The Devils yesterday, responding to an exclusive story in The Post about the overdue loan, said the notion that the Devils are facing bankruptcy or that “the Devils have told their banks to get lost” are untrue.
The team did not deny it had missed its loan payment but said it was confident “a refinancing will be completed shortly.”
As The Post noted, the banks can put the team in default but cannot force a sale or repossess the club for more than 180 days after informing the NHL of the default.
CIT is the lead lender on the roughly $100 million five-year loan, and has been getting out of sports lending, sources said.
The Devils did not respond to requests for comment.