An investment group led by William Chisholm has agreed to purchase a majority stake in the Boston Celtics basketball team for an initial valuation of $6.1 billion from Boston Basketball Partners, the current owner of the team.
The new ownership group will also include private equity firm Sixth Street Partners, among others, said a news release March 20.
A Sixth Street spokesperson declined to comment beyond the news release. However, Bloomberg reported that Sixth Street committed more than $1 billion to the Celtics deal.
Chisholm is the co-founder, managing partner and CIO of Symphony Technology Group, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based private equity firm that invests in technology.
Under terms of a definitive agreement signed by the parties, the current majority owner of the Celtics, Wyc Grousbeck will continue as CEO and governor of the Celtics, overseeing team operations, through the 2027-28 National Basketball Association season.
“He (Chisholm) has asked me to run the team as CEO and governor for the first three years, and stay on as his partner, and I am glad to do so,” Grousbeck said in the news release.
The sale remains subject to approval by the NBA board of governors.
If completed, the sale would mark the largest purchase price for an NBA club in history, far surpassing the $4 billion price tag for the Phoenix Suns, which was acquired by mortgage executive Mat Ishbia in late 2022, Bloomberg reported.
The purchase price for the Celtics also would exceed the $6.05 billion paid for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League in 2023.
According to Forbes, the Celtics are the fourth most valuable NBA franchise, behind the Golden State Warriors ($8.8 billion), New York Knicks ($7.5 billion) and the Los Angeles Lakers ($7.1 billion). Forbes valued the Celtics at $6 billion.
The Celtics are the most successful franchise in NBA history, having won 18 championships, one more than the 17 titles for the Lakers.
A number of other NBA clubs also have private equity firms as part owners. For example, Arctos Partners owns minority interests in the Warriors, Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz. Sixth Street also owns a stake in the San Antonio Spurs.
Based in San Francisco, Sixth Street has more than $100 billion in assets under management.
Boston Basketball Partners could not be immediately reached for further details.
According to a report in PitchBook, the Celtics were last sold in 2002 for $360 million to investors including Grousbeck and private equity investor Steve Pagliuca. As a result, the team’s valuation increased by 1,594% between the 2002 deal and the sale to Chisholm.
