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September 24, 2009
Unanswered questions remain about the Prokhorov deal, "certain contingent funding commitments," and subsidies for foreign billionaires
Atlantic Yards Report
In a page 1 article for Thursday's print paper headlined Richest Russian’s Newest Toy: An N.B.A. Team, the New York Times's Charles Bagli, who covers commercial real estate, adds only around the edges to his earlier analysis of the deal between Bruce Ratner and Mikhail Prokhorov.
Bagli, who nails the "tentative deal" as a "rescue package" for Ratner, still leaves the crucial questions open:
Under the terms of the deal, which was agreed to Wednesday morning in New York, Mr. Prokhorov would invest $200 million for an 80 percent stake in the team and a 45 percent interest in the arena. But the deal is conditional on Mr. Ratner’s obtaining financing for the arena project and control of all the land required for it by the end of this year.Ratner and his ownership group bought the Nets for $300 million in 2004. If 80% of the team goes for $200 million, that's a $40 million loss. Then the arena's a gift. There's got to be more to it, but we don't know what "certain contingent funding commitments" have been pledged.
Posted by eric at September 24, 2009 11:47 AM