Investors from Abu Dhabi and Qatar want to buy teams from the NBA

According to a Bloomberg report, executives from Mubadala Investment Co. in Abu Dhabi and the Qatar Investment Authority have looked into the option of acquiring small ownership stakes in NBA teams.

That investment firms are looking for opportunities to partner with NBA teams, and suggests that the New York Knicks may be a desirable option. Bloomberg has suggested that the Knicks could be a potential match for these firms.

“The team is owned by Madison Square Garden Sports Corp., which is controlled by the Dolan family. MSGS’s biggest equity shareholder is investment firm Silver Lake Management, which has strong ties with Abu Dhabi, and is a co-investor in Premier League giant Manchester City. Speaking on an earnings call this month, MSGS president David Hopkinson said the company was open to selling a minority stake in the Knicks.”

Per Kim Bhasin of Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Businessweek, sovereign wealth funds are allowed up to a 20 percent stake:

Marc Vartabedian, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, has written that Qatar Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund, was said to have been involved in a bid to buy the Phoenix Suns and Mercury sports teams for $3 billion. The bid was reportedly made by venture capital firms Thiel Capital and Shasta Ventures.