The Hawks sold an almost 6% equity stake in the team to Dyal HomeCourt Partners, it was announced Tuesday. The equity stake in the team comes from the nine existing minority shareholders. Hawks principal owner Tony Ressler was not a participant in the sale and will maintain his majority stake.
HomeCourt is managed by Dyal Capital, a division of Blue Owl, an alternative asset manager with $82.9 billion in assets under management. HomeCourt was formed in 2020 as a partnership with the NBA to help with long-term growth of the league and to improve market liquidity. HomeCourt is the only institutional investor that can acquire a pool of minority stakes in an unlimited number of NBA franchises.
“We welcome the influx of institutional capital as a validation for the hard work that the Hawks front office and basketball operations management and staff have undertaken during our ownership group’s tenure,” Ressler said in a statement. “We made it a priority to commit the resources to build a world-class team worthy of a world-class city, and so far, we have invested in top players, transformed State Farm Arena, built a state-of-the-art training and sports medicine facility, brought a G League team to College Park, launched initiatives to grow Black businesses, and re-invested in our communities across the city. On behalf of everyone at the franchise, we are thrilled to partner with Dyal HomeCourt as we continue to invest in the franchise and serve as a leader in the community.”
The transaction represents HomeCourt’s third minority investment in an NBA franchise. Previous investments included the Phoenix Suns in July 2021 and the Sacramento Kings in August 2021.
“Partnering with Tony and the Hawks is an exciting prospect given the strong growth the franchise has achieved over the past few years,” Michael Rees, Blue Owl’s co-president, said in a statement. “In addition to a stellar management team, the franchise benefits from being located in one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country. We look forward to working together and are excited for what the future holds, both on and off the court.”
