Balsillie Purchased Land in Cambridge, not RIM.

In a transaction closing February 16th, it was reported in news outlets that Research in Motion purchased, through a numbered company, 25.7 acres of industrial land in Cambridge, Ontario for $3.7 million.

The numbered company - 1258700 Ontario Limited - however, is a wholly-owned holding company of Jim Balsillie. This is rather telling as we now know that the land is a private Balsillie holding, and not a part of Research in Motion.

Further investigations show that Mr. Balsillie has disposed of approximately $100 million of RIM stock over the past three years, mostly through this company, well over the $2 million needed for the stock options he exercised over that same period. It appears the $50 million in personal cash plus $190 million in financing he's rumoured to be putting together to purchase the team may indeed by correct, and that plans for an arena in Cambridge are in motion.

What this means for the Predators future in Nashville is unclear, as only 14,185 in paid attendance is required to keep the team for at least three more years. If this figure isn't met and the city doesn't make up the difference though, hockey fans in Southwestern Ontario better start socking away some ticket money.

Balsillie directly owns 666,000 shares in RIM, and indirectly owns 11.136 million shares in RIM through his wholly-owned holding company, 1258700 Ontario Limited. RIM shares closed Friday at $175.75 on the TSX, leaving Balsillie's total holdings valued at $2.07 billion.