Jimmy and Dee Haslam have agreed to buy a 25 percent stake in the Milwaukee Bucks from co-owner Marc Lasry at a $3.5 billion valuation of the team, multiple outlets reported Monday.
That valuation puts the Haslams’ investment at $875 million.
The deal, pending league approval, would be the second-highest selling price for an NBA team, just shy of the $4 billion purchase of the Phoenix Suns earlier this month. And it shows what people are willing to pay to join the exclusive club of franchise owner.
Last fall, Forbes set the worth of the Bucks at $2.3 billion, good for 15th in the league. The Suns were 13th at $2.7 billion.
Lasry and Wes Edens teamed to purchase the Bucks in 2014 from ex-U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl for $550 million. Edens is retaining his stake of the Bucks.
Haslam Sports Group already owns the Cleveland Browns, a club it bought for $1.05 billion in 2012, and Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew, a team it purchased in 2019 for a reported $150 million.
The Haslam family made an earlier unsuccessful bid to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Ex-Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, the brother of Jimmy Haslam, bought the Nashville Predators earlier this year.
Jimmy Haslam is the chairman of the board of the Pilot Flying J truck stop company.
–Field Level Media