The Friedkin Group are, reportedly, in the running to acquire the Boston Celtics NBA team.
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Everton owner Dan Friedkin.
Everton owner Dan Friedkin.
Everton owners The Friedkin Group are one of the bidders for reigning NBA champions, the Boston Celtics. The basketball team have been for sale since last summer.
TFG, who completed their takeover of Everton just before Christmas, already had sporting assets under their ownership with Italian Serie A side AS Roma but, while they had a sprawling and varied North American portfolio, from Toyota car dealerships to media, film and entertainment businesses, they have no US sporting teams under their ownership.
That could be about to change with TFG, as first reported by US sports business website Sportico, as one of four bidders for the Celtics, one of basketball’s most storied and successful franchises.
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Sportico named TFG, Philadelphia Phillies owner Stan Middleman and Symphony Technology Group partner William Chisholm as bidders for the team, while Steve Pagliuca, currently a minority shareholder in the Celtics and also the owner of Italian club Atalanta, was also in the running.
But buying an NBA team won’t come cheap for Texas-based TFG, with the Celtics valued at around £5billion, with current owner Wyc Grousbeck looking to sell the team while its stock is high in sport, buoyed by the NBA Championship title last year and a stellar roster led by their star, Jayson Tatum.
It has been suggested that Grousbeck will seek to stick around after the conclusion of any deal in some kind of capacity to oversee transition, but whether that is acceptable to those bidding on the team remains to be seen.
Funding the deal won't be a problem for a firm the size of TFG, with revenues for the most recent financial year standing at $13.3billion (£10.3billion), while its chief, Dan Friedkin, has a net worth of some $7.8billion (£6.03billion).
TFG have wasted little time in addressing the problems that had built up at Everton, and with the club having all but secured survival following the arrival of David Moyes as boss in January, they have been afforded time to plan more effectively for the club’s future.
Last week saw the club refinance the messy stadium debt around the new 52,888-seater stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, with the move saving the club a sum of what has been claimed as high as £50million per year in interest payments after TFG were able to secure long-term financing on vastly better rates than the previous owner, Farhad Moshiri, had been able to bring in.
Sportico reports that bids for the Celtics have to be in by the end of this week before moving on to the next stage.
The Liverpool ECHO reached out to representatives of TFG for comment.