Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is not ready to completely sell the Brooklyn Nets club of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the sole owner of which is a businessman. This was announced to Vedomosti by his representative. “We do not consider proposals that exclude our participation in the capital [Brooklyn] Nets for several years ahead, “- explained the representative of Prokhorov.
Prokhorov’s plans to sell a controlling stake in the basketball club Brooklyn Nets were reported by the New York Post, citing two sources familiar with the situation. According to the newspaper, the Russian billionaire will sell the club in two stages: first, a minority stake, and then in the short term, for example three years, the buyer will have the right to buy out the entire team. As one of the New York Post sources noted, the club will have a new owner in a few years. “We have received several offers to buy part or a full stake in Nets,” confirmed a spokeswoman for Prokhorov. Interest in the club, according to the newspaper, was shown by the vice president of Alibaba Group Joe Tsai.
At the same time, the businessman is not going to sell the team’s home stadium – Barclays Center, the newspaper writes.
In 2010, Prokhorov’s Onexim Sports & Entertainment bought 80% of the then New Jersey Nets and 45% of their new arena for $ 223 million. In 2012, he transferred the team to Brooklyn and renamed it Brooklyn Nets. In the spring of 2015, Prokhorov announced his readiness to sell a minority stake in the team: then 20% of the club’s shares belonged to the American businessman Bruce Ratner, which Prokhorov eventually bought out, consolidating 100% of the shares. After 1.5 years, information appeared again about the businessman’s intentions to sell the club. The share planned for sale and the price were not disclosed, but trade publications wrote that it was about 49%. In April 2017, Prokhorov confirmed this information.
Now the businessman expects to receive $ 2 billion for Brooklyn Nets, one of the interlocutors of the New York Post knows. This is largely due to the fact that in early September 2017, another NBA club, the Houston Rockets, was sold for a record $ 2.2 billion. However, The Rockets is a profitable club, and the Nets are expected to continue to lose money next season. , notes the source of the American edition. In 2015, according to Forest City Enterprises, Brooklyn Nets was valued at $ 875 million, and its arena, the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, at $ 825 million.
The Russian billionaire became the first foreign owner of the NBA team. Then Prokhorov said that in five years he would make the team the NBA champion, but the businessman has not yet kept his promise. In the 2016/17 regular season, Brooklyn Nets have won just 20 wins in 82 games. This is the worst record in the NBA and the team’s third consecutive disastrous season, ABC News recalls.
Representatives of the NBA and Brooklyn Nets have not yet responded to Vedomosti’s inquiries.
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