Islanders owner Charles Wang asks for change of venue in sale lawsuit
New York Islanders owner Charles Wang at a 2011 news conference about Nassau Coliseum. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Charles Wang has asked a Manhattan judge to move Andrew Barroway's lawsuit to a Nassau County court because that's where the Islanders' owner lives and the team is based.
Barroway says he filed the lawsuit -- in which he accuses Wang of backing out of a deal to sell him the Islanders -- in state Supreme Court in Manhattan because that's what was stipulated in their purchase agreement.
But Wang's motion, filed late Tuesday, says their purchase agreement "is not binding and enforceable because it was never signed."
Barroway is suing Wang in an attempt to either enforce the terms of that purchase agreement or award him the $10 million "breakup fee" that's included in the purchase agreement.
In his lawsuit, Barroway accuses Wang of reneging on a deal to sell him the Islanders for $420 million and raising the price to $548 million after the Los Angeles Clippers were sold for $2 billion.
The case has been assigned to Manhattan Supreme Court judge Saliann Scarpulla.
Lawyers for both Wang and Barroway declined to comment.
The Islanders last week announced that Wang has agreed to sell a minority share of the team to a pair of businessmen, Jonathan Ledecky and Scott Malkin, who will take over majority control from Wang in two years. The deal is pending approval by the NHL's Board of Governors.
