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Tampa Bay Sports and Entertainment LLC is officially the new owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Jeff Vinik, a Boston-based asset manager, avid hockey fan, and minority owner of the Boston Red Sox, controls the company.

Terms of the deal that closed Wednesday were not disclosed. The purchase also includes the lease to the St. Pete Times Forum and ownership of adjacent real estate, the club said in a release.

Vinik becomes the Chairman of the Lightning and the club’s Governor on the National Hockey League’s Board of Governors. Earlier Wednesday, the NHL Board of Governors approved the acquisition of the team unanimously. A purchase agreement to buy the team on Feb. 4, 2010

“The Lightning is a great franchise in a terrific community,” said Vinik in a prepared statement. “We thank [former owner] Oren Koules and his partners for beginning the turn-around of the Lightning hockey club. Our goal now is to build a world-class organization, on and off the ice.”

Vinik, 50, is the founder and chairman of Vinik Asset Management free credit score online. Prior to forming Vinik Asset Management, he managed Fidelity’s Magellan Fund, at that time the world’s largest equities mutual fund. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Duke University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering and Economics, Vinik went on to earn his Masters of Business Administration degree from the Harvard Business School.

The team has scheduled a press conference March 5 to discuss the sale.

The Lightning was founded in 1990 by NHL Hall of Famer Phil Esposito and began play in 1992. The team won the Stanley Cup in 2004. Previous owners of the Lightning include Kokusai Green Ltd (1992-1998), Art Williams (1998-99), Palace Sports & Entertainment (1999-2008) and Lightning Enterprises LP (2008-2010).

The team currently has 20 games remaining in the 2009-10 regular season and it sits in 11th position in Eastern Conference, just two points removed from a playoff position.

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