Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie
has withdrawn his offer to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins, current owner Mario Lemieux said Friday.
Balsillie, whose company makes the BlackBerry wireless messaging device, had signed an agreement on Oct. 5 to buy the Penguins from Lemieux's group for about $175 million. The deal was expected to be finalized any day.
But talks between Balsillie and the NHL, which must approve the purchase, broke down and Balsillie issued a notice of termination Friday, the team said.
"We were hopeful that this was going to come to a conclusion any day," Penguins CEO Ken Sawyer said Friday night during a news conference at the arena.
"All we know is that he and the league couldn't come to an agreement and he chose to give us a notice. The price and the terms, there was no problem there."
Balsillie had said he was committed to keeping the team in Pittsburgh -- a condition the NHL had all but mandated as long as a new arena is built.
On Friday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman repeated warnings that the Penguins' future in Pittsburgh is uncertain if the Isle of Capri casino chain is not awarded a license to build a slots parlor in the city.