T'Wolves Owner Glen Taylor will sell two small shares of both the NBA team and the WNBA Lynx in a deal "that will bring the first Chinese owner to the NBA," according to Kent Youngblood of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. Shanghai-based investor Lizhang Jiang and Meyer Orbach, the Chair of New Jersey-based real estate firm The Orbach Group, "will join Taylor as minority owners." Jiang will have 5% of the team, while Orbach will have 9.5%. The deal "is consistent with Taylor’s stated goal of retaining both financial and decision-making control." An official announcement could come as early as today (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 6/28). ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst noted Taylor announced last year that he planned to sell 30% of the team to Grizzlies co-Exec Chair Steve Kaplan, "with the intention of Kaplan becoming the controlling owner in the future." But that deal "fell apart earlier this year." Jiang founded the Chinese marketing company Double-Edge Sports, and "previously worked with the NBA in China." Jiang earlier this month "completed the purchase of Spanish soccer club Granada CF." Windhorst noted at least twice in the past five years, Taylor has put the T'Wolves "on the market only to later back off and decide to keep the team." Sources said that the team is worth about $1B (ESPN.com, 6/27). The AP's Jon Krawczynski noted there "remains some optimism on Kaplan's side that a deal could eventually be completed that would allow him to take on" a 30% share initially "before taking over from Taylor in a few years." But Taylor "is moving ahead for now." Meanwhile, Liang's presence could help raise the T'Wolves' profile in China and "bring new marketing possibilities to a team that historically has not been a big seller abroad" (AP, 6/27).
SURPRISE VALUATION? YAHOO SPORTS' Eric Freeman notes the sale "suggests that NBA franchise valuations are either in a bubble or so high that the league is in some kind of golden age." Despite "the optimism surrounding the franchise's future," the $1B valuation "comes as a surprise." Forbes listed the T'Wolves' franchise value at $720M in its annual rankings this February, a "strong number" that still left the T'Wolves 27th among the NBA's 30 teams. That extra $280M represents a 38.8% "increase in value in under six months." That is "obviously good news for the league's existing owners, because they can likely sell all or a portion of the team whenever they want or need some extra money." However, it "could put them in a difficult position" when the BOG and the NBPA "discuss the terms" of the next CBA (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/28). CBSSPORTS.com's Zach Harper noted the T'Wolves "are a middle market team in Minneapolis." The "idea of them cracking" $1B when teams like the Kings and Bucks "sold for just over half that, respectively, not too long ago shows the skyrocketing value of NBA franchises." This "seems like pertinent information" for the NBPA (CBSSPORTS.com, 6/27).
DETAILS OF THE DEALS: The T'Wolves did not use an investment bank in the deal. The attorneys on the team’s side of the deal are Suzanne Spellacy, VP & General Counsel of Taylor’s Taylor Corporation; and David Naples, a partner at Stinson Leonard Street law firm in Minneapolis. The team also said that former NBA attorney Harvey Benjamin worked on the Chinese partner deal. No info on who represented the Orbach side of the LP sale (John Lombardo, Staff Writer).
