A longtime Boston Celtics owner with a minority stake in the team is angling to gain control of the storied franchise — at a discount from the expected $6 billion asking price, The Post has learned.
Steve Pagliuca, who owns about 20% of the reigning NBA champs, has pressed minority shareholders who own roughly another 30% to fall in with him in bidding for the Celtics, sources close to the situation said.
If he can get firm commitments from the other investors, it would give him leverage over any deep-pocketed buyers who may jump in as the bidding process tips off, the sources said.
Pagliuca, the former Bain Capital co-chair, has hired investment banks Allen & Co. and Raine Group to help him with his bid, sources said.
The Celtics’ controlling owners – Irving Grousbeck and his son Wyc – put the team up for sale in July, days after Boston won its record 18th NBA title. They own about 30% of the team.
But Irving Grousbeck, the 90 year-old patriarch who has a bigger stake than his son, has balked at funding big losses on the horizon from ballooning contracts, as The Post exclusively reported.
The Grousbecks, who have said they are selling the team for estate planning purposes, started the process earlier this month, retaining JPMorgan and BDT & MSD Partners to reach out to a select group of “qualified buyers targeted for initial outreach,” the Boston Herald reported.
So far, no mega-billionaire suitors – like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos or Citadel boss Ken Griffin – have emerged, sources told The Post.
John Henry’s Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox, has expressed some interest but has yet to enter the fray, sources said. If he does get involved, Henry might prefer partnering with Pagliuca and combining the Celtics and Sox as opposed to going it alone, one source believes.
“There is a tremendous amount of interest – from people who will never be owners,” said one sports banker following the process, explaining that on their own none of those potential bidders have enough money to meet the asking price.
The Celtics were valued at $6 billion by Forbes in their annual rankings released last week – putting them fourth in the 30-team league.
The NBA would like to see the franchise sell for at least that much in order to set a minimum bar for expansion fees from expected new teams in Las Vegas and Seattle.
However, if Pagliuca is the only viable bidder, he likely can drive down the $6 billion asking price to as low as $5 billion, the sources speculated.
The Celtics do not own their arena, TD Garden, and are likely to lose money in upcoming seasons due to their huge payroll that puts them on the hook for tens of millions of dollars in luxury tax fines.
“When you pay $6 billion for an NFL team they are making $250 million a year,” the sports banker said. “The Celts are losing money and that makes this a little harder.”
The current record price for control of an NBA franchise is the $4 billion paid for the Phoenix Suns by Mat Ishbia in 2022.
One complicating factor for Pagliuca in attaining his long-held dream of majority ownership could be an alleged strained relationship with Wyc Grousbeck, according to multiple sources who spoke to The Post.
The two have not shared power in years even though Pagliuca is the managing director, two sources said.
One of the sources pointed to an incident after the Celtics won their latest title in which Wyc Grousbeck seemingly iced Pagliuca out of the postgame celebration with the NBA trophy.
A Pagliuca spokesman insisted there is no animosity between the two.
“Steve and Wyc enjoy both a close personal and professional relationship and any suggestion to the contrary is simply false,” the spokesman said.
The rep noted Wyc Grousbeck’s investment in Pagliuca’s Italian soccer team Atalanta as well as other ventures.
“Steve values Wyc’s friendship and their families have become close over their more than 20 years since purchasing the Celtics,” the spokesman said.
The Grousbecks hope to complete the sale next year, with Wyc expected to stay in charge until 2028.