The Edmonton Investors Group, headed up by chairman Cal Nichols announced that the group rejected the latest bid from local pharmacy tycoon Daryl Katz to purchase the team for C$185 million.

Nichols announced at a news conference Tuesday afternoon that Katz' latest offer had been turned down. Nichols also announced that the group has voted to take the 'For Sale' sign off the franchise.

"This morning, our shareholders voted resoundingly to reject this offer," Nichols said at the news conference in Edmonton. "The reported sale price was $185 million, but in fact, it is actually closer to $160 million after capital adjustments and adjustments for tax treatment."

''I hope that this, at least for the near term, puts an end to the offer thing because this has been a bit of a circus for four months and no one in our group was going to continue doing what we were doing,'' Nichols told reporters in a news conference at the city's tony Petroleum Club.

''We (also) had a motion and a vote and declared the Oilers are not for sale."

Katz, who owns the Rexall Pharmacy chain, also made promises to increase the team payroll and build a new downtown arena.

''Clearly I'm disappointed that the ownership group has elected not to proceed with a sale but I accept their decision and wish them well,'' said Katz in a statement. ''As an Oilers' fan and the franchise's largest corporate sponsor, I will continue to be a major supporter of the team.''

Nichols said the offer to buy the Oilers was unsolicited but the Katz group disagrees, claiming he was told the EIG would be willing to listen to offers as long as they were $165 million or more.

"We're going to have to agree to disagree with Cal on a few key points, including the value of the offer and whether it was truly unsolicited as he has said," Katz spokesman Josh Pekarsky told TSN. "But fundamentally, the EIG has said the team is not for sale so that's the end of the story."

The Oilers are currently owned by 33 investors who bought the NHL team in 1998.

Katz is listed by Forbes magazine as the 486th richest man on the planet. Last year, his net worth totalled $1.6 billion.