January 13, 2015, 22:36 / Business

Mikhail Prokhorov is selling the Brooklyn Nets

A Russian businessman is ready to sell not just part, but the entire stake in the NBA Brooklyn Nets club. He hired Evercore Partners to find a new owner of the asset, Alexey Rozhkov told Bloomberg TASS

Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov, who owns the National Basketball Association (NBA) Brooklyn Nets, has hired consulting firm Evercore Partners to find a new owner for the club. This was reported by Bloomberg, citing two people familiar with the circumstances of the case.

According to Bloomberg sources, we are only talking about the sale of Prokhorov’s share in the club. The Russian owns 80% of the Brooklyn Nets, another 20% of the club belongs to Bruce Ratner. With him, Prokhorov owns the Barclays Center arena, where the Nets hold their matches and the NHL New York Islanders club will play next season. At the same time, shares in the arena between Ratner and Prokhorov are distributed in the proportion of 55:45.

Some time ago, the Russian businessman’s partner also hired Evercore Partners to evaluate his stake in Nets and sell this package, Bloomberg recalls. Representatives for the club and Evercore Partners declined to comment. The club's owners are open to investor proposals, Prokhorov's representative told Bloomberg. It's part of the business, she added.

Prokhorov loves to play basketball. He bought the Brooklyn Nets in 2010 for $223 million, becoming the first foreign owner of an NBA team. Information that he is going to sell his stake in the club appears regularly. So, in October last year, Prokhorov and Ratner discussed the sale of a minority stake in the Brooklyn Nets with Guggenheim Partners, which owns the MLB baseball club Los Angeles Doggers, the American The Nets Daily wrote. According to her data, the owners of the Brooklyn Nets valued the club at $1.7 billion, and the Barclays Center at $1.1 billion.

Prokhorov’s acquaintances confirmed to Vedomosti his contacts with Guggenheim Partners, noting that the Russian does not intend to give up control of the Brooklyn Nets.

At the end of the last NBA season, it became known that Prokhorov intended to reduce expenses for the team. According to The Wall Street Journal, about $200 million was spent on payments to basketball players and staff of the Brooklyn Nets and on paying the luxury tax. Sources in the New York Post reported that the losses of the Brooklyn Nets last year amounted to $50 million. The club's management planned to become self-sufficiency and make your first profit by 2017

Los Angeles Doggers majority owner Mark Walter confirmed to USA Today in October that his Guggenheim Group is interested in buying a stake in the Brooklyn Nets. The $2.15 billion purchase of the Los Angeles Doggers is the largest deal in the history of American professional sports.

The founder of the consulting firm Galatioto Sports Partners (participated in the sale of the NBA clubs Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns), Sal Galatioto calls the Brooklyn Nets “a unique asset.” Asset valuation expert from Boston-based Christie & Associates Peter Schwartz values the club at $1.3 billion, and Prokhorov's stake in the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center at approximately $2 billion.

Last year, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer bought the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion.