Nets Owner Mikhail Prokhorov is in "ongoing discussions" with Dodgers Owner Guggenheim Partners on a "combination of assets" in which Prokhorov would remain in control of the Nets and team investor Bruce Ratner would remain in control of Barclays Center, according to sources cited by NETS DAILY. Sources said that in the discussions, the "team is being valued" at $1.7B and the arena at $1.1B. There is "no agreement yet, nor a deadline for a conclusion of the discussions." The source said that Prokhorov "would continue to control the team as 'governor and controlling owner' of the team 'for the foreseeable future.'" The source "did not describe [the] 'foreseeable future,' but has said Prokhorov is heavily engaged in [the] team's prospects this year." Another source said that Ratner is "as engaged in arena operations" (SBNATION.com, 10/2). ESPN N.Y.'s Youngmisuk & Rovell cited sources as saying that Prokhorov "recently met" with Dodgers co-Owner Todd Boehly in Russia. The "seriousness of those talks remain unclear." But "one thing that is clear is that any transaction between the two sides would not involve control of the Dodgers." Dodgers Chair Mark Walter said, "I am the controlling owner of the Dodgers and I have no intention of selling the Dodgers or moving them into a new ownership group" (ESPNNY.com, 10/2). In N.Y., Mitch Abramson notes Guggenheim "holds the trademark rights for 'Brooklyn Dodgers'" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/3).
: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Alex Raskin wrote a deal could provide the Nets with "short-term liquidity while helping Prokhorov retain the titles of governor and controlling owner." Liquid assets are "currently at a premium in Russia following a series of European Union and American sanctions against the country for its aggression in Ukraine" (
WSJ.com, 10/2). A banking source said that it is a "pricey sum for the Nets" -- about 20% "more than the team would fetch if they were sold on the open market." In N.Y., Bontemps & Kosman cite a source as saying that Barclays Center "operates at break-even while the Nets are a money loser" (
N.Y. POST, 10/3).
