JOIN USA group based in Sacramento, California and headed by an Indian called Vivek Ranadive, has agreed to an offer to buy NBA side Sacramento Kings.
This comes a day after NBA owners rejected Sacramento Kings' move to Seattle. which prompted the Maloof brothers, owners of the franchise, to sell the basketball side to Ranadive.
Ranadive, who is a software billionaire, will purchase 65 percent of the Kings from the Maloof family in a deal that is expected to be announced later today in the States, ESPN reported.
The 65 percent purchase of the Kings from the Maloof family will be for a reported fee of approximately USD 348 million. The Kings' total valuation in the sale is USD 535 million, an NBA record.
The Maloofs, who have owned the team since 1998, had hoped to sell the stake to a group of Seattle businessmen that was offering USD 406 million for their shares. The family later proposed keeping controlling interest of the team but selling off a 20 percent stake to the Seattle group.
But with the league's owners supporting Ranadive and the team remaining in California, the Maloofs had to drop the idea.