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JOE TSAI TO BUY BARCLAYS FOR $700 MILLION

By Net Income
Anaheim Ducks v New York Islanders Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The Nets are a $3 billion team. The question is by how much.

The New York Post’s Brian Lewis and Josh Kosman as well as Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg News and Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes all report that Joe Tsai will buy Barclays Center as part of his acquisition of the Nets. The three reports differ on the final price tag of team and arena, with the Post pinning it at $3 billion, Forbes at $3.3 billion and Bloomberg at around $3.5 billion.

According to Lewis and Kosman, the arena will be valued at $700 million in the larger transaction that will give the e-commerce billionaire control of the team and its home arena. Soshnick and Badenhausen do not break out the cost of the arena.

As a team, the Nets valuation is reportedly $2.35 billion. Tsai paid $1.15 billion for 49 percent of the team last year, with an option to buy the remaining 51 percent for another $1.2 billion. Barclays, however, was not part of the original agreement. There are differences in the reports regarding whether the overall deal will be broken into separate sales or be a single transaction.

All three reports suggested the sale —or sales— will be announced on Friday. If the announcement follows tradition, it will likely be announced in an email.

Specifically, Lewis and Kosman reported...

The simultaneous deals for the team and its home arena are expected to be announced as soon as Friday, sources said. The price of the arena is not expected to be disclosed.

Similarly, Soshnick wrote...

The agreement to buy the team and arena from Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov may be announced as soon as Friday, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the deal isn’t yet public.

Badenhausen agreed...

The accelerated timetable, first reported by the New York Post, is expected to be announced as soon as Friday, according to multiple sources.

At $3 billion, the Nets and Barclays will represent approximately 30 percent of Tsai’s personal net worth, which is estimated at $10.2 billion.

While the NBA Board of Governors will have to approve the sale of the team, the NBA has no role in approving the sale of arenas. However, the league encourages team owners to also have at least a piece of their home venue.

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