Former baseball stars Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore have lost the financial backing of The Carlyle Group with one payment left to stake their claim to majority ownership of the Minnesota Timberwolves, current owner Glen Taylor says. Mr. revealed.
The payment was expected to complete a process that began in April 2021 for Lorre and Rodriguez to purchase the Timberwolves in installments. Mr. Lorre and Mr. Rodriguez previously purchased two 20% installments of the franchise at a valuation of $1.5 billion. They exercised their right to purchase an additional 40% of the franchise earlier this year.
But Taylor told Minnesota sportswriter David Sciamma that Rodriguez and Lore will need to find new ways to raise money for the final round, scheduled for March 27.
“They had an equity group that put $300 million into it, and either that equity group backed out or the NBA vetoed it,” Taylor told Sciamma. “They have to go out and find new revenue. We know that. We don't know if they've found it or what they're going to do. We haven't seen the ownership schedule yet.”
The reason for Carlyle Group's withdrawal is unclear. The NBA told Sportico in a statement that the league “did not reject Carlyle's proposed investment.”
Sportico reports that Lore and Rodriguez are in talks with other investors in case Carlisle is not approved by the NBA. Even if the payment is made, any change in ownership would still require approval from the NBA's Board of Governors.
As part of the deal, the two will also gain control of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx.
Field Level Media contributed to this report.
