Group Who Wasn't True North Wanted to Buy the Thrashers, Sez Report

Peering into our email box this morning, we found this, courtesy of Mr. Rawhide:

DALLAS — A bid has been made by a minority business group to purchase Atlanta Spirit, which owns the NBA's Hawks, the NHL's Thrashers and Phillips Arena, for $500 million, those bidding told USA TODAY.

The Spirit already are in the process of selling the NHL franchise to Winnipeg. When the Thrashers officially vacate, the bid then would be adjusted downward.

The CEOs of Global Wellington Financial Corp. and Oriana Capital Partners put forth a bid May 20 to acquire both teams and the arena before the 2011-12 NBA season. The new ownership group would be called W/C Holdings.

Well I'll be. Who knows why the Duke of Wellington would want to buy the Thrashers and the Hawks, especially since he's been dead at least 150 years.