Business Insider reports that Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has attempted to sell his 80 percent stake at $1.7 billion to no avail, and even a drop to $1.2 billion wouldn’t entice any buyers.
If he ends up selling at market value, he’ll end up losing money:
Today, if he’s obliged to accept a deal at the current industry valuation of $780 million for the team, Prokhorov must count that he has spent an additional amount of more than $600 million in player purchases, loss cover, debt service, and luxury taxes, ending up with no profit at all. If up was power in 2010, is down impotence today?
Of course, NBA teams always sell above their market valuations. Steve Ballmer just bought the Clippers for a flat $2 billion, well above market value, and the value of a team gets inflated by the scarcity and psychic value of owning a team.
The Nets did not comment to Business Insider about the idea of selling:
So, is Prokhorov selling out of the US? Yesterday, according to his spokesman in Moscow, Prokhorov “will not comment on this subject, and he has not commented on it before for anyone.” This isn’t the buzzer. It’s just the beginning of the game, though basketball, this isn’t.
There were rumors at the beginning of the season that Prokhorov looked at a “combination of assets” with the Guggenheim Partnership, which owns both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Brooklyn Dodgers trademark. Nets general manager Billy King flatly said in preseason that Prokhorov “is not selling.”
A team official declined to comment further on the story.
Business Insider — Here Are Some Reasons Why Mikhail Prokhorov Is Trying To Sell The Brooklyn Nets
