BRISTOL: An affiliate of Black Bear Sports Group has acquired the Grundy Ice Arena in Bristol Borough, PA, a news release said.
The Arena features two ice sheets, an athletic training gym, café, and pro shop. The Arena is home to many figure skaters and youth hockey players in the area and, like many of Black Bear’s arenas, frequently hosts youth hockey tournaments throughout the year. Black Bear was founded by CEO Murry Gunty in 2015.
“I want to thank Bristol Borough Council President Ralph DiGuiseppe and Borough Manager, Jim Dillon for their leadership in this transaction,” said Murry Gunty, Founder and CEO of Black Bear. “While they drove a hard bargain, they were incredible to work with and the transaction would not have happened without their heavy involvement in the day-to-day negotiations and transaction execution.”
“I want to thank the Rink Authority who managed the rink for the last several years as well as our Solicitor, William Salerno, who was instrumental in completing this transaction,” said Ralph DiGuiseppe, Bristol Borough Council President.
“I am happy that we were able to pay off our debt entirely with this deal, remove our operating losses, improve our tax base and still have money left over for other local projects. I am confident that Black Bear will continue to provide world class programs at our rink and that our residents will still have access to all of the ice skating activities that they have had in the past.”
“I believe that our citizens and rink employees will be in very good hands with Black Bear,” said James Dillon, Bristol Borough Manager. “The rink was for sale for an extended period, and we are confident that we achieved both the highest possible price for our Borough as well as the right long-term home for the Arena.”
“Grundy fits perfectly with our other Philadelphia area and Central Jersey arenas,” said Ryan Scott, Vice President of Black Bear. “We expect to use Grundy and our four other neighboring rinks as a hockey tournament hub as well as bring to the Senators and Grizzlies access to all of our hockey resources. We also hope to expand on the figure skating, learn-to-skate and learn-to-play hockey programming to grow skating and hockey in the Borough.”
Black Bear Sports Group, Inc. is a privately held company formed by Murry Gunty and Blackstreet Capital Holdings, LLC in 2015 that seeks investments in sports and entertainment facilities, teams and youth sports events. Black Bear arenas are clean and professionally managed and offer world-class recreational programs. Black Bear focuses on ice arenas in metropolitan areas with compelling demographics, markets with a National Hockey League club presence and arenas with existing youth hockey clubs. Black Bear has the ability to acquire healthy and stable arenas, but also to turn around under-managed or under-performing facilities.
The largest owner/operator of ice rinks in the U.S., Black Bear’s footprint totals 18 facilities across the United States with 33 sheets of indoor ice, two indoor turf fields, eight youth hockey clubs and four Junior “A” hockey franchises in the United States Hockey League, North American Hockey League and Eastern Hockey League.
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