SWISH! Blue Owl Capital Takes a Stake in NBA Team Phoenix Suns
Posted on 07/07/2021
Dyal HomeCourt Partners announced its first investment, a minority equity stake in the Phoenix Suns of the NBA. HomeCourt is managed by Dyal Capital, a division of Blue Owl Capital Inc., an alternative asset manager with US$ 52.5 billion in assets, and it is the only private equity fund pre-approved by the NBA to invest in multiple NBA franchises. The deal values the Phoenix Suns NBA franchise at a US$ 1.55 billion valuation.
Robert Sarver is an American businessman, co-founder of Southwest Value Partners, a real estate development company, and the owner of the Phoenix Suns and RCD Mallorca. In 2004, Sarver purchased the Suns for a then record US$ 401 million.
Dyal HomeCourt Partners was formed to offer investors diversified exposure to the NBA’s economic ecosystem and provides liquidity and growth capital to the league’s 30 franchises and their respective ownership groups. Dyal HomeCourt Partners was unanimously approved by the NBA’s 30 owners to be the first, pre-approved institutional buyer of stakes in NBA funds. HomeCourt can acquire a pool of stakes in an unlimited number of NBA franchises.
J.B. Lockhart, Chief Financial Officer for the NBA said in the press release, “We are excited that Dyal HomeCourt Partners has partnered with the Phoenix Suns to make its first minority investment in an NBA team. We look forward to Dyal continuing to scale its platform with additional investments in our teams.”
In May 2021, Owl Rock Capital Group and Dyal Capital Partners created Blue Owl Capital Inc. (NYSE: OWL), a publicly traded alternative asset management firm. Blue Owl is the result of the completion of the business combination with Altimar Acquisition Corporation (formerly NYSE: ATAC). The transaction was unanimously approved by Altimar’s Board of Directors and by Altimar’s shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting of Altimar shareholders on May 18, 2021.
