Billionaire, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg joins Rodriguez/Lore group trying to buy Timberwolves

Albany Times Union

Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez have added a big-name, deep-pocketed investor to their group trying to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves: billionaire and three-term New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, reports The Athletic.

The Lore/Rodriguez group owns 40% of the Timberwolves now and had a deal in March to purchase another 40% from current owner Glen Taylor, but that is where the dispute really ramps up (although it had been simmering as a personality and style conflict long before this). Rodriguez/Lore had switched to Dyal Capital to help finance that last 40%, however, in that changeover, Taylor said Lore/Rodriguez had missed deadlines and called the sale off. Put simply, Taylor said they didn’t have the money to complete the purchase on time, Lore/Rodriguez said they did (and the contract called for an extension to allow league approval), and a lot of lawyers will make a lot of money to sort out a messy situation.

Bloomberg would enter with part of the last $300 million, and the questions about whether there was enough money behind the group would go away, reports Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania of The Athletic. The panel of three arbiters will have the final say, but this will likely last deep into the summer or fall.

While they navigate the process in front of three neutral arbiters, Lore and Rodriguez have continued to make plans for their takeover should the ruling come out in their favor. The two have long heard skepticism about their ability to not just buy the teams, but run them for years to come. Adding Bloomberg, whose net worth is over $106 billion according to Forbes estimates, brings another deep-pocketed investor into their group.

All this comes as the Timberwolves just had their best season in two decades, reaching the Western Conference Finals with a team poised to be a contender next season. However, it is also a team about to head over a big financial cliff — max extensions for Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns kick in next season, Rudy Gobert already has a max deal, Jaden McDaniels is about to get a big extension — that will force some tough choices and roster changes…


Source link : https://finance.yahoo.com/news/billionaire-former-york-mayor-michael-183621171.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-06-06 18:36:21

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