Minnesota ownership change in jeopardy?

[shrink]

CHA and DAL just sold for $3 billion valuations. The $1.5B sale price was agreed in 2021. That's all you need to know here about what Taylor is saying publicly and every supposed point above.

Says what? That he’s right?

Taylor even said publicly that if the team wasn’t worth so much, he might not demand payment on time. No one is hiding anything.

Hiding? What?

And you beleive what Taylor is saying that they couldn't come up with the money though...even though they they have pretty likely doubled their initial investments? And are ignoring what the buyers are saying? Ok then. You beleive that.

"We are disappointed with Glen Taylor's public statement today. We have fulfilled our obligations, have all necessary funding and are fully committed to closing our purchase of the team as soon as the NBA completes its approval process. Glen Taylor's statement is an unfortunate case of seller's remorse that is short sighted and disruptive to the team and the fans during a historic winning season."

And he wasn't right and is now likely trying to do anything to fix it, legally binding or not.

I feel like you haven’t followed this very closely.

ARod and Lore’s financial ability to complete this deal was questioned by the industry, right from the start. Instead of a straight sale, they needed to do a multiyear buy in because they couldn’t afford the upfront $1.5 billion. On each of their previous 20% payments, they missed the deadline and required an extension to raise the money. On the second payment, they literally had to sell some of their Wolves shares to a third investor (google inventor) to reach the 20%! This time, for the 40%, they had an investor (Carlyle Group) literally back out on them in obviously a very sweet deal. They quickly asked another investor but who knows? Moreover, NBA rules require any owner to be able to buy a minimum percent of the organization, so a team isn’t owned by 1000’s of owners. Lore has that kind of money, but for the last year, people have wondered if ARod could get there.

So do I believe that the owners couldn’t have come up with the money? Clearly. If they could, they would have paid on time according to the contract, and not risked complications from having to ask for yet another extension.

[Sealab2024]

Says what? That he’s right?

Taylor even said publicly that if the team wasn’t worth so much, he might not demand payment on time. No one is hiding anything.

Hiding? What?

And you beleive what Taylor is saying that they couldn't come up with the money though...even though they they have pretty likely doubled their initial investments? And are ignoring what the buyers are saying? Ok then. You beleive that.

"We are disappointed with Glen Taylor's public statement today. We have fulfilled our obligations, have all necessary funding and are fully committed to closing our purchase of the team as soon as the NBA completes its approval process. Glen Taylor's statement is an unfortunate case of seller's remorse that is short sighted and disruptive to the team and the fans during a historic winning season."

And he wasn't right and is now likely trying to do anything to fix it, legally binding or not.

I feel like you haven’t followed this very closely.

ARod and Lore’s financial ability to complete this deal was questioned by the industry, right from the start. Instead of a straight sale, they needed to do a multiyear buy in because they couldn’t afford the upfront $1.5 billion. On each of their previous 20% payments, they missed the deadline and required an extension to raise the money. On the second payment, they literally had to sell some of their Wolves shares to a third investor (google inventor) to reach the 20%! This time, for the 40%, they had an investor (Carlyle Group) literally back out on them in obviously a very sweet deal. They quickly asked another investor but who knows? Moreover, NBA rules require any owner to be able to buy a minimum percent of the organization, so a team isn’t owned by 1000’s of owners. Lore has that kind of money, but for the last year, people have wondered if ARod could get there.

So do I believe that the owners couldn’t have come up with the money? Clearly. If they could, they would have paid on time according to the contract, and not risked complications from having to ask for yet another extension.

I'm also hearing that they have never really made any of the deadlines on time. They've always had to hustle up the money at the last minute and always went past previous deadlines.

What really sucks here is that I'm not a fan of either of these two. Taylor has overseen the worst franchise in sports for thirty years, making serious, franchise destroying mistakes along the way. ARod/Lorre make Red McCombs look reliable and on the up and up. I can't envision any timeline in which they don't try to screw the Minnesota basketball fans about 3-5 years down the road.

Basketball in Minnesota is insanely popular, but the fans have been absolutely beaten down. We deserve a break but I don't think ones coming.

[wco81]

On one hand, this to me reads like Glen Taylor being a ruthless business man; he has a history of being very detail oriented with contract language.

On the other hand, Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez have repeatedly failed to meet deadlines, and have been largely an unmitigated disaster financially, throughout this process. It’s been extremely embarrassing to see them repeatedly beg for extensions and fail their end of their obligations.

Even if Glen Taylor is being a massive dick and somewhat bad faith, the answer to avoiding this is just not missing basic deadlines, especially after extension requests.

OR...

Actually having all the money necessary to complete the purchase when you make your initial offer. That's what Mat Ishbia did. That's what Schall/Plotkin did. That's what the Adelson's did. These guys are too poor.

I thought Taylor himself wasn't thought to be one of the richest owners in the league either. He's 82 so unless he has children or grandchildren ready to take over the team, you'd think he'd be looking to sell.

Lore is trying to build a city in the desert. Maybe he has a cash crunch.

The more interesting question is what this ownership uncertainty means for the franchise.

They have a huge payroll. So there was belief that they either have this season or next to make big noise or they have to move some of the big contracts.

But now with the ownership situation, they may have to find a deep-pocketed owner fast.

Taylor would only sell to owners who pledged not to move the team. He may not be able to impose that condition but the Wolves must be selling out the arena and ticket prices, especially on the secondary market, must be higher than they've ever been?

They should be able to raise prices for next season and sell out.

So new owners may not be thinking of moving but they'd probably not want their hands tied.

[firedavidkahn]

Guy doesnt want to sell the team because they are doing well, has an ownership ever done something like this before?

I think the more likely factor is money...

When Taylor made this deal it was with a $1.5 billion dollar valuation.

The Wolves are now worth $2.5 billion

[firedavidkahn]

I get Minny fans are disappointed, but honestly I'm not sure having Lore/ARod as owners is much better. They don't have money.

The difference is known quantity (Glen Taylor) and an unknown quantity (Lore/Arod)

We know Glen is horrendous. We have 3 decades worth is evidence.

I would literally take anyone else to try as an owner. Hell I'd even endure David Kahn owning the Wolves!@

What's the worst that can happen? We continue to be an embarrassment? I'm used to that as a Wolves fan!

[firedavidkahn]

Guy doesnt want to sell the team because they are doing well, has an ownership ever done something like this before?

I think the more likely factor is money...

When Taylor made this deal it was with a $1.5 billion dollar valuation.

The Wolves are now worth $2.5 billion

I was right

Read on Twitter

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1773423852128772360%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=

[dc]

I was right

Read on Twitter

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1773423852128772360%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=

I know it's not in the order of things in how it happened, but it's like if MJ sold the Hornets and then a couple months later they got the #1 pick in the Wemby lottery. Then he obviously would've back tracked on the deal.

Realistically, MJ knew what was up and did the deal after the lottery was over, but no doubt they were already negotiations happening before the lottery (considering the amount of money involved). Had they won the lotto, MJ probably would've ended those talks.

[MoneyTalks41890]

Guy doesnt want to sell the team because they are doing well, has an ownership ever done something like this before?

I think the more likely factor is money...

When Taylor made this deal it was with a $1.5 billion dollar valuation.

The Wolves are now worth $2.5 billion

I was right

Read on Twitter

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1773423852128772360%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=

I mean of course? But to shrink’s point Lore and Arod missing deadlines and having an extremely difficult time getting the money together are what opened the door. If they had all the money up front Taylor wouldn’t even be able to try this.

[brutalitops]

Read on Twitter

Looks like Taylor has been leaking the "can't front the money" and missed deadline speech. Looking at those documents that Lore/Arod get an automatic 90 days extension.

Every wolves source which isn't Woj(Owners mouth piece) seems to say sellers remorse

[Monky15]

Seems like sellers remorse. At least Taylor has a 600M war chest to pay for a run now.
New guys had Pre Aproved investors on the 20th and had submitted paperwork then according to wiretap.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/275055/Marc-Lore-Alex-Rodriguez-Ready-To-Close-Purchase-Of-Wolves-After-Securing-Final-Financing

[MoneyTalks41890]

Read on Twitter

Looks like Taylor has been leaking the "can't front the money" and missed deadline speech. Looking at those documents that Lore/Arod get an automatic 90 days extension.

Every wolves source which isn't Woj(Owners mouth piece) seems to say sellers remorse

Taylor ain’t the reason that Lore and Arod have been bouncing around different third party financing options, they haven’t had the money.

The section of the contract here that defines NBA approval isn’t public. At least not through that case.

[magee]

Didn't see a thread on here so I figured it's a discussion worth having. Gonna be interesting to see who's in the right. Either way, I don't see another team allowing a sale like this structure to happen ever again in the NBA after this fiasco.

*If I missed it, just tack this onto whatever thread was initially started.

[madskillz8]

Here it is

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2365619&start=100

[LakersLegacy]

RE tactic after a done deal

[shrink]

Ok, as near as I can tell, when the Carlyle group pulled out of the deal with ARod and Lore last week, they went to Dyal Capital, through a subsidiary in Home Court and an Asset Managing Company called Blue Owl. Dyal was the only private equity company that the NBA had agreed could purchase shares in a team, and only to help very limited partners sell their shares. However, while the NBA approved them, they had limited their equity purchases so far to 20% of a team. Their little slice profited in the sale of the Suns and they have a piece of the Hawks. However, while ARod and Lore called them an NBA approved source of funds, which is true, it doesn't mean they would allow the company to own 40%, or whatever amount of money that Lore and ARod needed to borrow, or that they were already approved for THIS deal.

This is a little too complicated, and I may have factual mistakes here. I think it will go down to the lawyers, and the decision of the NBA’s Board of Governors,

[shrink]

The more I think about this, the more sense it makes to me - but it’s still my speculation.

So we know that when Carlyle pulled out last minute, ARod and Lore were facing an immediate need for cash to make the deadline, so what would they do? Maybe instead of looking at this as Dyal helping them make the 40% payment, maybe this was about them SELLING some of their previous equity in the Wolves to Dyal to acquire the cash?

From their perspective, they might say “Look Glen. we have the financing lined up, we just need NBA approval!” But from Glen’s perspective, they need approval on a totally different deal to get his payment, and that doesn’t trigger his deal’s 90 days?

We’ll see. I hope we get a lot more clarification in the next few days.

[brutalitops]

Read on Twitter

Looks like Taylor has been leaking the "can't front the money" and missed deadline speech. Looking at those documents that Lore/Arod get an automatic 90 days extension.

Every wolves source which isn't Woj(Owners mouth piece) seems to say sellers remorse

Taylor ain’t the reason that Lore and Arod have been bouncing around different third party financing options, they haven’t had the money.

The section of the contract here that defines NBA approval isn’t public. At least not through that case.

No Taylor isn't the reason they haven't had the liquid capital, but a group pulled out, they have another group BUT they need NBA approval for the buy in. but it looks like they get an automatic 90 day extension because the NBA have to approve, but Taylor is now saying it's off and that one of the main reason is the valuation has increased, it's not a "Well they don't have the money!" Deal. They realistically probably have, which takes NBA approval for this new group to be cleared by the NBA, within the contract of that happens they get a 90 day extension, which Taylor is now renegging because of the value.

Agreed upon price, it's not a case of "if I don't have the 300m by Saturday deals off!" It's "Hey we are buying the 20% extra with this group taking the 5%, but the NBA has to approve of them having that % share and Thus, it cannot be green lit, so we get 90 days for the NBA to approve, as per contract"

But you have Taylor saying No, they missed the deadline, I am not selling anymore. The main reason being it's worth more now. Which is an absolute Snake move. Buying NBA teams isn't Gumtree.

It's going to get really messy.

[dockingsched]

Every wolves source which isn't Woj(Owners mouth piece) seems to say sellers remorse

Hilarious that Woj still hasn’t said anything since and about Arod/Lore’s public response.

[brutalitops]

The more I think about this, the more sense it makes to me - but it’s still my speculation.

So we know that when Carlyle pulled out last minute, ARod and Lore were facing an immediate need for cash to make the deadline, so what would they do? Maybe instead of looking at this as Dyal helping them make the 40% payment, maybe this was about them SELLING some of their previous equity in the Wolves to acquire the cash?

From their perspective, they might say “Look Glen. we have the financing lined up, we just need NBA approval!” But from Glen’s perspective, they need approval on a totally different deal to get his payment?

This is most likely it. Which is one of the reasons the second payment was Delayed. As something fell through and they unloaded a small % of the team to finance the second purchase.

[shrink]

Every wolves source which isn't Woj(Owners mouth piece) seems to say sellers remorse

Hilarious that Woj still hasn’t said anything since and about Arod/Lore’s public response.

Great observation, and it has been noticed locally in Minnesota.

Neither Shams nor Woj knew anything about this - it all came from local reporting, with different people having different connections. This may also mean that Glen went rogue here, if there was nothing leaked to those two guys’ sources.