Michael Heisley agrees to sell Memphis Grizzlies;
Robert J. Pera to take over – NBA News
Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley has decided to sell the franchise and has found a new owner for it as well. Heisley had been looking for a buyer for some time now, and even had negotiations with a consortium
back in 2006. However, the success achieved by the Grizzlies in the last two seasons seems to have done the work in creating interest in the franchise. Memphis was eliminated in the 2nd round of the playoffs last year and lost in 7
games in the first round this year.
The franchise announced Monday that owner Heisley has entered into a sale agreement with Robert J. Pera, founder and CEO of the Ubiquiti Networks.
Pera is only 34 as was recently named in the Forbes youngest billionaires list.
The price of the acquisition is said to be around $350 million. The NBA board of governors will have to approve the new ownership before Pera can officially become the owner of the franchise, but Heisley has
said that he feels confident about the new ownership and does not think the approval by the NBA will be an issue.
Pera has reportedly already forwarded an eight figure deposit to Heisley to get the process started.
"I think he'll be a good owner. He's young. He's in his 30s. I think he loves basketball. And I think he's financially very well off. I think he'll be an excellent owner, but that's a job for the NBA to decide,”
said Heisley to FoxSports.com.
There have not been any talks of moving the franchise away from Memphis and Pera has intentions of keeping it where it is. Even if he wanted to, Pera cannot immediately move the franchise as the Grizzlies have
a lease agreement with the FedExForum till 2021 with high financial costs and implications if the team decides to end that lease.
Heisley agreed to sell a 70% share of his ownership in 2006 as well, to a consortium led by Christian Laettner for a reported $360 million. However, the deal did not go through. At that time, there were rumours
that the new ownership wanted to move the franchise away from Memphis and Heisley was against it.
He is however hopeful that the deal will go through this time and sees no reason for it to break down.
Talking to NBA.com, he said:
“This one appears to be moving and I'd be surprised if it didn't happen. I guess my emotion is I'm praying that I severely don't regret it. I love Memphis. They've been good to me, the town and everything else.
And quite frankly I love the NBA and love being involved in it. I'll still be very interested in it.”
Pera is a 34 year old native of North Carolina who was an engineer with Apple. He left the company at 25 to start his own business and today, is counted as one of the youngest billionaires in the world. He is
reported to be a basketball fanatic and regularly plays and follows basketball.
The Grizzlies have a good roster that has brought success to the franchise. After the trade of Pau Gasol to the Los Angeles Lakers back in 2006, the Grizzlies management was criticized as Gasol went on to win
two championships with the Lakers. However, the Grizzlies replied to the criticism by signing Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Rudy g*y and Mike Conley. They have now become the leaders of this young and energetic basketball team and have led the franchise to a
revival which now sees them placed among the top teams in the Western Conference.
At the age of 75, Heisley has been suffering from heart condition and admits that he is now too old to run the affairs of the franchise. He says that his son is not interested in taking over the Grizzlies; hence
there was no other option but to bring in a new ownership that can do justice to the team, players and the fans.
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