Brooklyn Nets, Julia Koch in Talks on 10% Stake Sale
Billionaire Julia Koch is in talks to acquire about 10% of Brooklyn Nets parent BSE Global, according to multiple people familiar with the negotiations.
Koch, who was married to late billionaire David Koch, is looking to invest alongside her three children, said the people, who were granted anonymity because the matter is private. BSE Global also includes the Barclays Center arena and the WNBA’s New York Liberty.
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Koch Industries is not involved, according to one of the people, and Joe and Clara Tsai will retain control of the team.
A representative for BSE Global declined to comment. An attempt to reach Koch, who lives in New York, wasn’t immediately successful.
While it’s unclear exactly how the team would be valued in the deal, the talks have focused on a valuation that takes into account the NBA’s next round of national TV deals, according to the people. Sportico currently values the Nets and their related businesses at $3.98 billion, ranked No. 13 in the NBA.
Koch and her family are worth $60.6 billion, according to Forbes, making her one of the wealthiest women in the world. The family inherited 42% of Koch Industries when David Koch, brother of Charles and Bill Koch, died in 2019. She runs the Julia Koch Family Foundation and has become a prominent philanthropist. Earlier this month, the foundation donated $75 million to NYU Langone Health to build a medical office tower in West Palm Beach.
Bloomberg reported Thursday that the Koch family was in talks with the Nets. The talks are currently centered around just Julia Koch and her immediate family, and no other members of the larger Koch family, one of the people said.
Should a deal happen, Koch would become a rare female investor to buy into the league on her own. Billionaire Miriam Adelson purchased a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban last year. Laurene Powell Jobs owns a large minority stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the parent of the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals.
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