Glen Taylor says he will remain the majority owner of the Timberwolves as well as the WNBA’s Lynx, the team announced in a press release.
Taylor confirmed the expiration of the option of Marc Lore and former baseball star Alex Rodriguez to purchase controlling interest in the team. Under terms of the purchase agreement, the closing was required to occur within 90 days following the exercise notice issued by Lore and Rodriguez. That 90-day period expired on Wednesday, according to the statement.
Under certain circumstances, the buyer could have been entitled to a limited extension. However, those circumstances did not occur, the statement adds.
Taylor will retain approximately 60% of the franchises, while Lore and Rodriguez will hold an approximate 40% stake.
“I will continue to work with Marc, Alex and the rest of the ownership group to ensure our teams have the necessary resources to compete at the highest levels on and off the court,” Taylor said in the statement. “The Timberwolves and Lynx are no longer for sale.”
Last week, Lore and Rodriguez reportedly had found new financial backing to complete the purchase. A previous report indicated that the sale proceedings were disrupted when the Carlyle Group chose to withdraw. Lore and Rodriguez were supposedly able to replace the firm with Dyal Capital Partners but apparently that was not enough to close the sale by the March 27 deadline.
Since 2021, Lore and Rodriguez have been involved in the purchase of the Wolves for $1.5 billion on a multi-phase payment plan. They have made two payments so far — giving them a 20% stake each time, for a total of 40%.
They exercised their option in December for the final 40% of the purchase. That began a 90-day window to submit the required documents and commitment letters to finalize the deal.
Bad news for the Wolves
As I lifelong wolves fan, this sucks. I’m not what type of owners Arod/Lore would have been, but Taylor has time and time again proven he is not capable of making the right decisions. I’ve thought for years that the wolves won’t be good until Taylor is out of the picture. I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but the old man needs to sell the team and be done. He’s made his money. Just another sad die for a sad franchise. I love this ten, but DEAR LORD!!! Laughing stock of the NBA!!!
Not really a nice guy either. iykyk
Yuri Sucart is rumored to be ARod’s connection to Dyal Capital. Seems like the books were ultimately viewed as unnatural and artificially inflated.
Wow. I guess in hindsight it isn’t too surprising given their funding issues, among other things. Kind of felt like a lose-lose situation no matter what happened here, as who in their right mind would trust A-roid?
I’m sure Glen is doing this for the right reasons…
Pmsl…
He’s seen the profits increase and just wants to keep riding them…
Team was in a lose-lose situation tho… New owners may have helped pumped some optimism into the team, but that was mainly down to how badly Glen had run it… If they really couldn’t afford the team, then they couldn’t afford the upgrades they planned to make either…