In what would be the biggest transaction in Canadian sport history, the Toronto Star is reporting that communications giant Rogers is in talks to buy the Toronto Maple Leafs in a deal worth more than $1 billion.
Citing anonymous sources, the Star says the sale would include the NBA's Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and the Marlies, the Maple Leafs' American Hockey League minor hockey team.
Buying a majority stake in Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan would transform Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.A), which already owns the Toronto Blue Jays, into one of the most powerful sports enterprises in North America.
"I know it's real," a top sports industry executive, who requested anonymity, told the Star. "I've heard it from Rogers at a high executive level and from MLSE at (the highest) level."
Sources say the deal would include the Leafs and Raptors TV stations, but not MLSE's real estate holdings.
Richard Peddie, MLSE's chief executive officer, declined comment.
"It's a shareholder matter," he told the Star. "I have not been involved in any discussions and I have no knowledge of it."