Glen Taylor won't appeal sale of Timberwolves, Lynx to Marc Lore, Alex Rodriguez
An agreement is in place to end the years-long battle for ownership of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx, a source with knowledge of the deal confirmed to KSTP Sports on Wednesday.
Glen Taylor, the current owner of both basketball teams, will not appeal an arbitration panel’s decision binding him to proceed with transferring ownership to a group headed by former Walmart eCommerce CEO and entrepreneur Marc Lore and former MLB player Alex Rodriguez.
The final sale requires approval from the NBA Board of Governors and completion of the full $1.5 billion payment.
The NBA Board of Governors just met last week, and it’s unclear when they’ll meet again. The Board could bypass waiting until the next formal gathering to approve the sale by taking a remote vote.
This wraps up a four-year-long process that started with a plan to transfer ownership of the team incrementally.
That plan was derailed just before the final payment was due when Taylor called off the deal, saying Lore and Rodriguez failed to meet the deadline to obtain a controlling stake in the teams. It went to an arbitration board, which ruled in favor of Lore and Rodriguez in February.
Taylor initially said he was considering an appeal — and he had until May 11 to do so — but that’s now been dropped as he has agreed to finalize the sale. Any appeal was legally required to prove bias or inappropriate involvement by the arbitration board.
KSTP Sports contacted Rodriguez and Lore, who said they aren’t ready to comment yet.
There were concerns in the early stages of the deal that Lore and Rodriguez didn’t have enough cash to cover the $1.5 billion price tag, but they have since gained the backing of several wealthy investors, including former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and a private equity firm.
The sale will end Taylor’s 31 years owning the Timberwolves. He saved the franchise from leaving Minneapolis in 1994 when he purchased the team for $94 million.