The San Antonio Spurs logo is seen before the game against the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the First Round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on April 19, 2018 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Noah Graham | National Basketball Association | Getty Images
Businessman Paul Viera is increasing his stake in the San Antonio Spurs from 5% to 11%, CNBC has learned, as NBA valuations rise and teams become more attractive to investors.
About two weeks ago, Viera, founder and CEO of Atlanta-based investment firm Earnest Partners, bought foodservice company Aramark’s remaining stake in the Spurs at a deep discount in a deal that values the team at $2.5 billion, according to two sources familiar with the deal, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic information. Fractional team owners can get deep discounts when they buy small chunks of teams that give them less control over decisions.
Last May, Viera bought a 5% stake in Spurs for an undisclosed enterprise value. But Aramark’s 2023 annual report says it sold part of its stake in Spurs for $98.2 million in cash, resulting in a pretax loss of $1.1 million in fiscal 2023.
The Spurs' majority owner is Peter Holt, managing partner of Spurs Sports & Entertainment, which also operates the team's arena, the Frost Bank Center. The Holts joined the Spurs ownership group in 1996. Other minority owners of the team include Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, Sixth Street Partners, the McCombs family and two-time NBA champion David Robinson, who played for the Spurs from 1989 to 2003.
Paul Viera, investor in the San Antonio Spurs.
Thanks to: NBA
The Spurs have won five NBA titles but haven’t reached the postseason since 2019. The team finished 22-60 in 2023-24, last in the Southwest Division, but rising superstar Victor Wembanyama is beginning to change the team’s basketball and financial trajectory.
NBA teams are in high demand, thanks in large part to the league's new $76 billion, 11-year media deal.
Just two weeks ago, former Milwaukee Bucks star Junior Bridgeman paid an enterprise value of $3.4 billion (equity plus net debt) for a small discount on 10% of the Bucks in a deal that valued the team at $4 billion, $800 million more than the club was worth when Jimmy and Dee Haslam acquired Marc Lasry's 25% stake in April 2023.
Sports bankers tell CNBC that the majority stakes in the Spurs and Bucks are not far apart in value, at around $4 billion.
Both Bridgeman and Viera add to the growing number of diverse owners in professional basketball.
The NBA is trying to increase the number of owners by people of color or former NBA players.
Former players with minority stakes in teams include: Grant Hill with the Atlanta Hawks; Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway with the Memphis Grizzlies; Robinson with the Spurs; Dwyane Wade with the Utah Jazz; Elliot Perry with the Grizzlies; and Michael Jordan with the Charlotte Hornets.
All eyes are now on the Boston Celtics. Just weeks after winning the NBA Finals, co-owner Wyc Grousbeck announced in July that he was selling his stake in the team.
The Grousbeck family has put its controlling interest in the Boston Celtics on the market, with sources telling CNBC they expect the reigning NBA champions to fetch between $5.5 billion and $6 billion. The Grousbecks bought the Celtics in 2002 for $360 million.
The NBA declined to comment on Viera's investment in the Spurs. Aramark and Earnest Partners did not respond to emails from CNBC about Viera's investments.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC, is one of the NBA's partners in the new media rights deal.