BOSTON– The ownership group that controls the NBA Champion Boston Celtics says he intends to sell all his shares in the team.
In a statement released Monday, Boston Basketball Partners LLC said it intends to sell the majority of its shares in 2024 or early 2025. The balance of its shares will then close in 2028.
Wyc Grousbeck, whose family leads the ownership group, is expected to remain as the team’s NBA governor until the sale is completed.
“The controlling family of the ownership group, after considerable reflection and internal discussion, has decided to sell the team for estate and family planning reasons,” the statement said.
The Celts defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals last month to capture the franchise’s 18th championship.
Boston Basketball Partners – led by venture capitalist Grousbeck, his father and investor H. Irving Grousbeck, along with venture capitalist Steve Pagliuca – purchased the Celtics for $360 million from the Gaston family in 2002. The Gastons had owned the team since 1983.
One of the NBA’s original and historic brands, the Celtics were valued at $4.7 billion last year by Forbesplacing them behind only the Golden State Warriors ($7.7 billion), New York Knicks ($6.6 billion) and Los Angeles Lakers ($6.4 billion).
The current ownership group was in charge when the Celtics won the 2008 NBA title.
In an email to Celtics staff obtained by The Associated Press, Wyc Grousbeck wrote that they are “committed to finding a worthy new ownership group that will guide the Celtics to more decades of success.”
He added: “There will be a careful and thorough process to find a buyer who recognizes the importance of Celtic Pride on the court and in the community.”
Last year, the Phoenix Suns were purchased by mortgage company owner Mat Ishbia for $4 billion. This was followed for the sale of the Milwaukee Bucks to Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam for $3.5 billion. Last November, Mark Cuban agreed to the sale of majority ownership shares in his Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson and her son-in-law Patrick Dumont, who operates the Las Vegas Sands casino company, for $3.5 billion.
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This story has been corrected to show that the New York Knicks are valued at $6.6 billion, not $6.6 million, and that the Dallas Mavericks were recently sold for $3.5 billion, not $ 3.5 million.
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This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
