ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Blues owner Bill Laurie, twice stymied in efforts to buy an NBA franchise, will meet with a co-owner of the Charlotte Hornets Wednesday in St. Louis.

The meeting, Blues president Mark Sauer said, is an "informal get-together" with Hornets' co-owner Ray Wooldridge and the city's business and political leaders. The meeting also will include further discussions between Laurie and Wooldridge, who have met once before to talk about moving the Hornets to the Savvis Center.

Any discussion between the two men likely would include talks about who would actually own the club should it move to St. Louis. Laurie has said he wishes to own any franchise that moves into the Savvis Center, which he owns along with the Blues, while the Hornets' ownership has expressed a desire only in moving the team, not selling it.

Wooldridge has said his first choice, should the Hornets leave Charlotte, is Louisville, Ky. But political leaders there have expressed doubts about publicly financing a new arena for the team. Norfolk, Va., is also courting the club.

The NBA has not had a franchise in St. Louis since 1968. Wooldridge has said the Hornets want to decide by Jan. 1 where they'll play in the 2002-03 season. The franchise, upset that voters rejected plans for a new arena in Charlotte earlier this year, has until March 1 to apply to the NBA for relocation.

Laurie bid on the Denver Nuggets in 1999 and last year tried to buy the Vancouver Grizzlies.