In just two weeks following the Celtics celebrating a record-setting 18th NBA championship, co-owner Wyc Grousbeck made headlines around the league with the announcement of plans to sell the team.
Grousbeck, the face of the Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C. ownership group for over the past two decades, commented on the reported sale of the Celtics for the first time earlier this week during his appearance on CNBC's "Closing Bell" show.
While it was thought that Grousbeck was the leader of the majority ownership stake in the Celtics, he shined a light on Monday that despite having the governor role -- he's not even the principal owner when it comes to the Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C group.
"I want to clarify, it's not my majority stake," Grousbeck noted. "The control of the team is owned by my family, so it's a family that I belong to and then I have the Celtics family I also belong to, so there's an intersection and there's an involvement. The family has been involved for 22 years. There's been discussions and thoughts about estate planning and family planning."
According to last week's Celtics press statement, the decision to sell Grousbeck's shares was due in part by "considerable thought and internal discussion" surrounding "estate and family planning considerations."
When asked to further elaborate details on what's going into "considerations," Grousbeck didn't offer much explanation.
"It really just says it -- it's a family, been in a long time, loves the Celtics, and at some point after 22, even 25, 26 years, you can find somebody else to come in with energy and commitment," Grousbeck said. "We're going to try and find the right buyer."
In a recent The Boston Globe article, it was reported that H. Irving Grousbeck -- who's Wyc's father, may be the one pushing for the sale of the Celtics while the value of the team is currently at its highest.
"H. Irving Grousbeck -- still teaching at Stanford Business School -- has been the money behind the group since the beginning," the article read. "(Forbes lists "Irving Grousbeck and family's" worth at $1.8 billion.) There's every indication that the billionaire rarely seen at Celtics games is motivating this sale in an attempt to get his affairs in order."
Wyc Grousbeck is a Worcester, MA native and lifelong C's fan, before he led an investment group that bought the Celtics for $360 million back in 2002. According to Forbes, the team is now worth roughly $4.7 billion (as of October of 2023), making them the fourth-most valuable team in the NBA behind the Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Lakers.
As for the sale of the franchise, the majority ownership group plans to complete the sale in two phases, potentially selling the majority of their family's ownership stake by as early as 2025, while Grousbeck will remain team governor until 2028.
"The plan, the expectation is to sell the team in two parts, 51 percent going fairly soon," Grousbeck explained. "Forty-nine percent then closing in a second closing, that's the expectation in 2028. I'm planning or expected to stay on until 2028 and we're going to hire bankers and advisors and this is going to be quite a bidding process."
In regards to any potential buyers for the Celtics at the moment, Grousbeck wouldn't comment, but did confirm that current co-owner Steve Pagliuca would be involved in the bidding process.
"Steve has been a terrific lead partner, lead co-owner in many ways," Grousbeck said. "Brought Danny Ainge to the table back in the day when we were looking for a general manager. Steve has been great and is a great person and we welcome him for sure in the bidding process.
"We haven't even begun the process but the family has agreed to find a new ownership group coming in that will make everybody proud of the Celtics moving forward."
With the pending sale of the Celtics, it hasn't stopped Brad Stevens from being active this off-season so far as 15 of 17 players from the championship roster are under contract for the 2024-25 campaign. The president of basketball operations has re-signed all of the team's free agents with the exception of OShae Brissett and Svi Myhailiuk. Jayson Tatum also signed a five-year, $315 million super-max extension and Derrick White inked a four-year, $125.9 million extension as well.
Joel Pavón
No comments:
Post a Comment