The transfer of the NBA franchise might not be smooth sailing
The Portland Trail Blazers’ reported sale from long-time owner Paul Allen’s estate to Texas businessman Tom Dundon brought shockwaves, and some relief, to the Trail Blazers universe when it was announced this August and confirmed nine days ago. In relatively short order the Blazers found their way into the hands of an experienced, professional owner heading a seemingly-stable, and even somewhat locally-connected, group of investors.
Not so fast, as it turns out. Or perhaps. Details are murky at this juncture, but Law360 is reporting that a suit has been filed in a Delaware court seeking to prevent one of the minority investors from participating in the purchase of the team [subscription required].
The suit was filed by RAJ Sports Holding LLC. The corporation should be familiar to Portlanders. Brother and sister duo Alex Bhathal and Lisa Bhathal Merage stand at its head. They own the Portland Thorns and the newly-minted Portland Fire of the WNBA. The siblings are arguing that Andrew and Peggy Cherng–co-founders of Panda Express and investment partners with Dundon in buying the Blazers–violated a confidentiality agreement during the sales process.
This evening The Oregonian picked up on the story, though the bulk of their added information is that nobody involved will offer public comment on the matter at this time. The article did quote one unnamed source relaying rancor between the Bhathals and Dundon’s group throughout the process:
On Aug. 14, Dundon’s bid to buy the Blazers became public even though a purchase agreement had not yet been signed.
After that moment, insiders described a fierce battle for control of the team between Dundon and RAJ Sports. One source described it as “hand-to-hand combat” behind the scenes as RAJ worked, multiple sources told The Oregonian/OregonLive, to leapfrog Dundon even after the NHL team owner had apparently become the Allen estate’s preferred buyer.
That race was seemingly settled nearly a month later, on Sept. 12, when the estate released a statement saying that it had entered a “formal sale agreement” with Dundon, adding that he would be joined not just by Marc Zahr, CEO of Blue Owl Capital, and Sheel Tyle, the Portland-based CEO of Collective Global, as investors, but also by the Cherng Family Trust.
More clarity is expected as the details of the lawsuit become available to the public.
Category: General Sports
