Grizzlies Sale Unanimously Approved by NBA’s Finance Committee

The NBA Finance Committee meet yesterday in New York as part of the two-day Board of Governors meetings; as a key topic, the sale of the Memphis Grizzlies from current owner Michael Heisley to an investors group lead by Robert Pera. The Committee unanimously approved the sale to Pera’s group, which includes such big names as Penny Hardaway, Justin Timberlake, AutoZone founder J.R. “Pitt” Hyde, former Congressman Harold Ford Jr., and Memphis native Ashley Manning and her husband, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning. Today, the full Board of Governors will vote on the proposed sale, with a three-quarters positive vote required for full approval. Common speculation is that with the unanimous approval of the finance committee, the full board will also overwhelmingly approve the sale.

With approval from the NBA’s Board of Governors, the final challenge will be for Pera and his group to work out the details of the deal with Heisley, but that could happen quickly, as early as Friday, but most likely some time next week.

Pera, a 34 yr-old entrepreneur from Memphis, leads the investment group that has had thirteen names publicly named. The most recent addition to the group is Steven Kaplan, an investor from Los Angeles that was also involved in a failed attempt to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers last year. That investment group included the Grizzlies’ current owner Heisley. Kaplan is a principal and portfolio manager at Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based firm. His published 2011 compensation from Oaktree was listed by BusinessWeek at $20.7 million.

Pera has stated that if he is successful in purchasing the Grizzlies, he’ll keep the team in Memphis for a minimum of 15 years.