Lemieux, Penguins' co-owner offer to buy Pirates-Pirates demur

"Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle, co-owners of the Penguins, recently made an unsolicited offer to buy the Pirates in a face-to-face meeting with that team's owner, Bob Nutting,

• but the offer did not receive a response.

Sources on the Penguins' side last night described the offer made by Mr. Lemieux and Mr. Burkle as "very serious," without divulging a dollar figure, and said

• they remain interested in following up.

The Pirates characterized the matter far differently.

• Mr. Nutting, the only person in the meeting to comment on it, was adamant that no serious discussion about a sale had taken place. And he firmly reiterated that the Pirates are not for sale. ...

"Honestly, I'm not sure there's a situation to describe," Mr. Nutting said last night when asked about the meeting. ..."But I think the simplest way to say this is that there never has been a substantive or formal offer for the team. The team is not for sale."

• Because the teams' stances on the meeting vary -- greatly in some aspects -- this is a story with two distinct sides.

According to sources on the Penguins side, the meeting happened four months ago at the Penguins' front-office headquarters in Chatham Center, Uptown. Mr. Lemieux, Mr. Burkle and Mr. Nutting were present, and the

• intent of the meeting was for the Penguins owners to offer to buy the Pirates. Mr. Burkle made a financial offer."...

from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Dejan Kovacevic, 1/30/10. photo Lemieux and Burkle in Stanley Cup parade, June 2009, ap

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