Former baseball star Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore have lost financial backing from the Carlyle Group and have one payment left to claim majority ownership of the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to current owner Glen Taylor.
That payment would close a process that began in April 2021 for Lore and Rodríguez to buy the Timberwolves in installments. Lore and Rodríguez previously purchased two 20% shares with a valuation of $1.5 billion for the franchise. They exercised their rights to purchase an additional 40% of the franchise earlier this year.
However, Taylor told Minnesota sportswriter David Shama that Rodriguez and Lore will now need to find a new way to raise money for the final installment, which is due March 27.
“They had an equity group that was going to come in and put up $300 million, and that equity group either pulled out or was denied by the NBA,” Taylor told Shama. “They have to go out and find new revenue. I do know that. I don't know if they found it or what they're going to do. We haven't seen the ownership timeline yet.”
It was unclear why the Carlyle Group was out. The NBA told Sportico in a statement that the league “did not deny Carlyle's proposed investment.”
According to a report from Sportico, Lore and Rodríguez have been in talks with other financiers in case Carlyle was not approved by the NBA. If the payment is made, the change in ownership would still have to be approved by the NBA Board of Governors.
The duo would also acquire a majority stake in the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx as part of the deal.
Field Level Media contributed to this report.
