Two of the richest sovereign wealth funds in the world are interested in buying minority stakes in the teams of the NBA, the US basketball league. According to reports from Bloomberg, in fact, the executives of the fund Exchange Investment of Abu Dhabi and the Qatar Investment Authority (Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund which among others is the majority shareholder of Paris Saint-Germain) have expressed their interest in the NBA and are actively looking for potential business.
The prospect of acquiring shares in NBA franchises became possible late last year after the league approved a rule change to allow sovereign wealth funds to buy up to 20 percent of team shares. Previously, such funds could only do so through indirect exposure. Any international deal for an NBA team would face extensive scrutiny and would likely require a lengthy due diligence process before gaining league approval.
One of the targets, explains Bloomberg, could be the New York Knicks. The team is owned by Madison Square Garden Sports Corp., controlled by the Dolan family. However, the second largest shareholder in MSGS is investment firm Silver Lake Management, which has strong ties to Abu Dhabi considering it is a shareholder in Manchester City.
The Citizens are controlled by the Abu Dhabi United Group, led Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, sporting director of City and vice-president of Mubadala. Also, Mubadala’s CEO is Khaled Khalifa Al Mubarakpresident of Manchester City and the Abu Dhabi United Group, as well as a very trusted collaborator of Sheikh Mansour.
Last October, Abu Dhabi hosted the first NBA preseason games in the Middle East, as part of a push led by Al Mubarak’s brother Mohamed, who is chairman of the emirate’s Department of Culture and Tourism.
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