Mark Walter and Lakers claim that the sale of the team should close by the end of the year
Dodgers who controls the owner Mark Walter and the president of the Lakers and the control owner Jeanie Buss broke their silence on Wednesday with a successful agreement that shocked many inside and outside the Los Angeles.
A press release issued by the Walter team confirmed its acquisition of the share owned by the majority of the Lakers, with the transaction that should close in the third or fourth quarter of this year.
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During the sales interviews, the evaluation of the Lakers was placed at $ 10 billion, a record for a professional sports team, people with knowledge of the agreement not authorized to publicly discuss the Times. ESPN reported that it is possible that the value could inflate to $ 12 billion before the transaction is complete.
Buss, whose family has had the control of the Lakers for 46 years, will remain the team governor and “continues to supervise all team operations on a daily basis for the near future”, confirmed the declaration.
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Walter and Todd Boehly – a partner of the Dodgers owned group – became the largest minority shareholders of the Lakers in 2021 when they bought 27% of the franchise, a participation previously held by Phil Anschutz.
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Jerry Buss, Jeanie Buss’s father, purchased the team for $ 67.5 million in 1979 in an agreement that included the Los Angeles Kings and the English forum. The buses sold the kings to Bruce McNall in 1988.
“The Buss family is deeply honored to have taken care of this incredible organization for almost half a century,” said Jeanie Buss in the declaration. “From the day our father purchased the Lakers, we were determined to deliver what the city of Los Angeles deserves and requires: a team that is committed to winning – incessantly – and to do it with passion and style.”
Buss said he felt confident that Walter would bring the franchise to success. During his mandate, the Dodgers signed a collection of stars entitled by the two -way wonder in Shohei Ohtani. The team won the World Series last year, their second championship and the fourth apparition of the World Series in the last eight years.
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“I got to know Mark very well in time and I was happy to learn how he shares those same values,” said Buss. “In the past four years, Mark has been an excellent partner for us and we are excited to continue working with him to continue the extraordinary inheritance of the Lakers.”
Walter, president and CEO of Twg Global, has owned altitudes in the Dodgers, in the Sparks of the Wnba, the Billie Jean King Cup, the Cadillac Formula 1 and the Hockey Women Professional.
He said the Lakers “have long been one of the most iconic franchise of sport”.
“Ever since Dr. Jerry Buss has purchased the team for the first time in 1979, they have really set the standard for basketball in one era after another, which is why you can find people anywhere in the world who wear shirts and lakers shirts,” said Walter.
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The control of the Lakers went to a family trust after Buss’s death in 2013, with his daughter Jeanie Buss who operates as the team governor. The structure of trust meant that most of Buss’s six children – Johnny, Jim, Jeanie, Janie, Joey and Jesse – had to agree on the agreement for a sale.
The structure of family trust, according to the people who are familiar, does not allow the property to transmit to the heirs after death, which means that the division between the brothers would have gone from being shared to six ways to five and so on.
“I admire what [Jerry Buss,] Jeanie and the Buss family have built and I know how much this special organization counts in the southern Californians and for sports fans around the world, “said Walter.” I also have enormous respect for Jeanie’s continuous commitment to maintain the long -term vision of the Lakers and the elite status, and I am excited to work with her on the next era. “
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To find out more: As the Buss family made the lakers a wonder of Hollywood
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The agreement for the sale of the Lakers arrived about three months after Bill Chisholm agreed to buy the Boston Celtics with an initial evaluation of $ 6.1 billion – which would have been a record, on top of the previous sign of $ 6.05 billion for sale for the commanders of Washington of the NFL.
The Lakers transaction was seen as a great surprise in the NBA circles.
The sale of the Celtics is not yet aimed, pending the final approval by the Board of Directors of the NBA.
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The Lakers, led on the pitch by the stars Lebron James and Luka Doncic, are preparing to start their 78th season by the end of the year. The team has reached the post -station 65 times in the history of franchise, including 32 trips to the NBA finals and 17 championships.
Tim Reynolds of Associated Press has contributed to this relationship.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.