Billionaire mortgage lender Mat Ishbia is finalizing a purchase of the Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Mercury for a record price of $4 billion, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
The deal, expected to be announced as soon as Tuesday, will end the tumultuous tenure of owner Robert Sarver.
Ishbia is well-known and well-regarded within the league office, including with commissioner Adam Silver, and has developed relationships with a number of NBA owners. He will have to undergo a background check and a vote of approval from the board of governors, but that’s expected to be a formality, sources said.
Justin Ishbia, a founding partner in Shore Capital, will make a significant investment and serve as alternate governor, sources told ESPN. He is Mat Ishbia’s brother.
The Suns’ record sale marks a new day in the escalating valuations of NBA teams. Joe Tsai bought the Brooklyn Nets for an NBA-record $2.35 billion in 2019. Prior to that sale, Tilman Fertitta purchased the Houston Rockets for $2.2 billion in 2017, with Steve Ballmer buying the LA Clippers for $2 billion in 2014.
The Lakers had a minority share sold for a higher valuation than the Suns’ $4 billion purchase, landing a $5 billion valuation.
Ishbia, president and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage, a Michigan-based company, has been pursuing NBA and NFL teams in recent years and finally landed on a deal to own the Suns. Ishbia was a walk-on for Michigan State and part of the Spartans’ 2000 national championship team. He has remained close with Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo, and he previously made a $32 million donation to the basketball program.
The sale will end Sarver’s tenure with the Suns, which dates back to 2004, when he led a group to buy the team for a then-record $401 million from Jerry Colangelo.
Two current members of the Suns ownership group told ESPN’s Baxter Holmes that they learned of Ishbia’s impending purchase on Tuesday and that they were surprised by the speed of the process.
One investment banking official familiar with the process told ESPN that an especially motivated buyer — and one that the league is familiar with — can greatly expedite a sale.
Jack Selby, the managing director of Thiel Capital, and Jason Pressman, who is the managing director of Shasta Ventures, had submitted a $3 billion bid to buy the Suns and Mercury. They told ESPN’s Holmes that Ishbia’s bid “was news to us.”
“We haven’t heard from anyone involved in the process,” Selby and Pressman told ESPN. “If we were involved,…
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