NBA's Atlanta Hawks sold

Story by Bloomberg

A group led by Ares Management LP’s billionaire co-founder Tony Ressler won the bidding for the National Basketball Association’s Atlanta Hawks, according to a person 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.

The person requested anonymity because the sale process is private.

Bill Mendel, a spokesman for Ressler at Mendel Communications, 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.

Ressler’s group includes former NBA player Grant Hill, as well as BTIG LLC’s Steven Starker and Marquis Jet co-founder Jesse Itzler. Ressler would be investing personally in the Hawks.

The sale brings to an end the ownership of a group led by Bruce Levenson, who said he was selling the club after the disclosure of a 2012 e-mail he wrote that he called “offensive,” “inappropriate” and racially insensitive.

Other bidders included a group led by Oaktree Capital Management LP co-founder and Memphis Grizzlies part-owner Steve Kaplan.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Inner Circle Sports advised the Hawks on the sale...

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-22/ares-s-ressler-said-to-buy-nba-s-atlanta-hawks-for-730-million