THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 22, 1996 TAG: 9604220118
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Blake Cullen, whose Hampton Roads Admirals helped the region shed its image as a professional sports graveyard, has verbally committed to sell the hockey team to local investors Mark Garcea and Page Johnson, sources said Sunday.
Sources said Garcea and Johnson reached terms with Cullen late last week. Attorneys are working on a sales contract to be signed in the next few days. Assuming no hitches develop, an official announcement may come later this week.
Cullen, when contacted Sunday, would neither confirm nor deny that he was selling the team.
Garcea and Johnson declined comment, as did Admirals coach John Brophy.
Garcea and Johnson apparently outbid Ken Young, president of the Norfolk Tides and a Tampa, Fla., concessionaire who was considered the team's other major suitor. Young headed an investment group that included most of the Tides' ownership.
Allen B. Harvie Jr., who formerly owned the Richmond Renegades and has plans to open a series of ice skating rinks in Hampton Roads, also made a late bid to buy the team.
Cullen's asking price was $2.8 million. It isn't known how much he will receive.
The sale must be approved by the East Coast Hockey League's board of governors on May 26 in Biloxi, Miss. The league rarely rejects changes of ownership.
The acquisition of the Admirals gives Garcea an ownership share in each of the region's three professional sports teams, including a majority interest in the Admirals and Hampton Roads Mariners soccer team. He is a minority investor in the Tides.
Garcea, a 39-year-old Norfolk native and graduate of Cox High School in Virginia Beach, owns an electronics firm and is a real estate investor. He owns the Ramada Oceanside Tower and Econo Lodge on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. His primary business concern is M&G Electronics, which has a 70,000-square-foot plant in Virginia Beach.
Johnson, a Chesapeake native, is an accountant and heads Harmony Investments, co-owned by Garcea. Johnson, 36, graduated from Deep Creek High School and Old Dominion University and, like Garcea, has lived in Hampton Roads his entire life. Johnson and Garcea jointly own the Mariners. MEMO: Related article on page C1 - Cullen's decision.
GARCEA'S SPORTS HOLDINGS:
Majority interest in the Admirals (deal pending)
Majority interest in the Hampton Roads Mariners soccer team
Minority investor in the Norfolk Tides ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Mark Garcea
Page Johnson
by CNB