Meet the banker billionaires will have to call to buy the Ottawa Senators

Sal Galatioto has become the go-to investment bank connecting billionaires with pro sports teams

, which their father acquired in 2003 for US$92-million. Mr. Melynk’s heirs have said the franchise must remain in Canada’s capital. Estimates of the eventual sale price range from US$600-million to US$800-million.

– got their start in the 1990s, raising money for team owners as bankers at Lehman Brothers. The entrepreneurs who buy teams typically borrow significant sums, because their wealth is tied up in their businesses, and the Lehman bankers arranged the loans. The group struck out on their own in 2004, founding GSP and avoiding Lehman’s bankruptcy in 2008.

GSP raises money for its clients, but the firm’s cachet stems from its deep relationships in the clubby and complex world of sports owners. “A franchise is more than a team,” said Chris Bevilacqua, a co-founder of sports consultancy Bevilacqua Helfant Ventures. “It’s a media business, a data business and real estate business.”

Over the past two decades, GSP has benefitted from a continuous bull market for professional sports teams. In 2011, the bankers set a high water mark for the value of an NHL franchise when they advised on the US$265-million sale of the Dallas Stars. The most recent team to change hands, the Nashville Predators, fetched US$775-million., financial services magnate André Desmarais and waste disposal tycoon Patrick Dovigi have all expressed interest.

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