According to a report by Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic, Mario Lemieux, Ron Burkle and David Morehouse are investigating a potential purchase to reacquire the Pittsburgh Penguins from Fenway Sports Group.
In 2021, Lemieux and Burkle sold their controlling interest in the franchise to FSG. Both Lemieux and Burkle still maintain a minority interest.
FSG has been pursuing selling a minority share since at least January in order to raise equity in the franchise.
That stance was reiterated Wednesday in a statement issued by an FSG spokesperson to TribLive.
“We’ve seen the speculation, and as we’ve previously shared with media, FSG is currently engaged in a process to explore a potential minority investment in the Pittsburgh Penguins. The focus is on identifying a small, passive partner, and that is the current framework under discussion with potential investors.”
A phone call to Morehouse, formerly the CEO and president of the Penguins, was not returned.
Lemieux and Burkle purchased the Penguins out of bankruptcy in 1999., and Lemieux even came out of retirement as a player to suit up for the Penguins from 2000-2005. Under their stewardship, the franchise won the Stanley Cup three times (2009, 2016 and 2017)