Barclays Center "is up for sale," with investment bank Evercore Partners expected by this week to "formally begin selling" Forest City Enterprises’ 55% stake in the arena, according to sources cited by Daniel Kaplan of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Sources said that the arena has more than $30M in annual cash flow and added that "such an amount would translate to a top valuation" of $750M for the arena. That "is far less than the price floated in recent weeks in reports that Guggenheim Partners was seeking to combine with the Nets under principal owner Mikhail Prokhorov." Those reports "pegged the arena" value at $1.1B and the team’s value at $1.7B. However, those Guggenheim reports "appear to have been much ado about little, with no discussions ongoing." Part of the Nets "has been for sale" since the spring -- the 20% piece owned by Forest City. Evercore "has been shopping it" at a valuation of $1B to no avail. Evercore "could bundle the team and arena stakes, but sources said that is not the plan at the moment." Pollstar data shows that the venue "ranks as the most popular arena in the country, based on ticket sales for concerts in the first six months of the year." And beginning next year, in addition to the Nets, it will be home to the Islanders. Barclays Center opened in '12 and was named Sports Facility of the Year at the '13 Sports Business Awards (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 10/20 issue).
