The pool of investors beaten the offer of Steve Pagliuca (the owner of Italy’s Serie A team Atalanta). Wyc Grousbeck acquired the iconic NBA team in 2022 for 360 million
Bill Chisholm, the cofounder of private equity Symphony Technology Group, and a pool of investors acquired 51% of Boston Celtics, the iconic US NBA team, on the ground of an enterprise value of 6.1 billion US Dollars (press release). The figure is the highest valuation ever for a North American sports team and exceeds the 6.05 billion that Harris group paid for the Washington Commanders in 2023 (ESPN).
Sixth Street will invest one billion in the deal that also attracted the resources of Rob Hale (current owner of Boston Celtics and ceo of Granite Telecommunications) and Bruce A. Beal, Jr, the chairman of real estate asset manager Related Companies.
The NBA Board of Governors must give the final approval for the transaction whose closing may take place by 3Q25. The Celtics’ current owners will have the option to keep their shares until 2028 and then sell them on the ground of a higher valuation.
The Grousbeck Family acquired the NBA team in 2022 for 360 million and now owns it through Boston Basketball Partners. The vendors will cashi 17X their investment for a 13% IRR. Wyc Grousbeck will keep his role as Boston Celtics ceo until the 2027-28 season.
Bill Chisholm
Chisholm co-foundedx Symphony Technology Group in 2002 and currently invests in data companies, software houses and analysis firms. Chisholm previously worked for The Valent Group, Bain & Company and PaineWebber.
Chisholm and his pool of investors beaten the offer of Steve Pagliuca, the current co-owner of Boston Celtics and former chairman and managing partner of Bain Capital (of which is a senior advisor). In 2022, the competing bidders acquired 47% of Italy’s Serie A Team Atalanta, whose majority belongs to the Percassi Family (see here a previous post by BeBeez).
Steve Pagliuca
On 20 March, Thursday, Pagliuca said with a post on X that vendors did not accept the bid that he tabled: “We made a fully secured and financed offer at a record price, befitting the best sports fans in the world, and with all the capital coming from individuals who are fully committed to winning on and off the field. We felt it was the best offer for the Celtics. It is an offer from true fans, deeply connected to the Boston community, and we were saddened to discover that we were not selected in the process”. Pagliuca added that if the announced deal falls through, his team is “ready to come back and play and bring the game home”.
