Mark Cuban is set to sell a majority stake in the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson and her family.
This comes after it was reported that Adelson is selling $2bn worth of Las Vegas Sands stock, with the proceeds being used to buy a professional sports team; it now looks like those funds will be used to buy a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks.
The 46.3 million shares Adelson is selling were priced at $44 per share, according to a filing.
Adelson and her family are said to be the largest shareholders in Las Vegas Sands and Adelson is also listed as the fifth-richest woman in the world by Forbes.
Last year, they sold the Venetian resort in Las Vegas to Apollo Global Management, but still have a close connection with Las Vegas, as they own the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper.
In a filing, Las Vegas Sands said: “We have been advised by the Selling Stockholders that they currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering, along with additional cash on hand, to fund the purchase of a majority interest in a professional sports franchise pursuant to a binding purchase agreement, subject to customary league approvals.”
Patrick Dumont, Sands’ President and COO, and Adelson’s son-in-law, said on the earnings call: “As we consider our future capital return, we expect share repurchase will be more heavily weighted than dividends. We believe repurchases will be more accretive than dividends over time, as they reduce the denominator.
“We fundamentally believe in the compounding long-term benefit of share repurchases.”
