A group led by Ares Management's billionaire co-founder Tony Ressler won the bidding for the National Basketball Association's Atlanta Hawks, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The sale price was $730 million, the second-most ever paid for an NBA team behind Steve Ballmer's $2 billion purchase of the Los Angeles Clippers. Mr. Ressler's group will also assume about $120 million in arena debt, one of the people said.
The people requested anonymity because the sale process is private.
Bill Mendel, a spokesman for Mr. Ressler, declined immediate comment. Hawks spokesman Garin Narain declined to comment.
Forbes in January said the Hawks were worth $825 million, 22nd out of the league's 30 clubs.
Mr. Ressler's group includes former NBA player Grant Hill, who'll be chairman, said one of the people. The others buying the team are private equity investor Richard Schnall, partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice; Spanx Inc. founder Sara Blakely and her husband, Jesse Itzler; and Steven Starker, the former Goldman Sachs Group partner and co-founder of brokerage firm BTIG. Mr. Ressler would be investing personally in the Hawks.
Other bidders included a group led by Oaktree Capital Management co-founder and Memphis Grizzlies part-owner Steve Kaplan.
Goldman Sachs Group and Inner Circle Sports advised the Hawks on the sale.
