Jim Pallotta is selling his minority share of the Boston Celtics, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Pallotta is selling his 8% stake in the National Basketball Association team to Steve Pagliuca, who is already a managing partner and executive committee member of the club. Wyc Grousbeck and Pagliuca are among the team’s majority stakeholders.
Pagliuca, a managing director at Bain Capital, is buying the stake at a $2.8 billion valuation, said one of the people, who was granted anonymity because the sale hasn’t been approved by the NBA.
Pallotta declined to comment on the stake sale when reached via email. Pagliuca didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment on his purchase.
The sale comes about two weeks after Pallotta sold Serie A soccer club AS Roma, which the group he led bought in 2011. The three-time league champion was sold to the Texas-based Friedkin Group. Pallotta had unsuccessfully lobbied for a new stadium for the club.
The Celtics are worth $3.1 billion, according to Forbes. Minority stakes of sports teams are routinely sold at a discount of 10-30% because they often don’t come with control or voting rights, as is the case with Pallotta’s stake.
Boston is one of the NBA’s marquee franchises. The Celtics have won a league-high 17 championships, the most recent of which came in 2008. They reached the Finals in 2010, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers, who have 16 NBA titles as an organization.
The Celtics lead the Philadelphia 76ers 2-0 in their playoff series. The NBA is holdings its postseason in a so-called bubble at a Walt Disney Co. facility in Orlando, Florida, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 62-year-old Pallotta founded Raptor Group, an investment management firm with offices in Boston and New York, in 2009. Prior to forming Raptor, he was most recently vice chairman of Tudor Investment Corporation, where according to his bio he had responsibility for more than $10 billion.
