49ers: Sale of equity stake for over $8.5 billion
According to Jed York, owner of the San Francisco 49ers, his family has been contacted “probably weekly” by those interested in acquiring a part of the team, of which the Yorks own 97%.
This week, three of these interested parties submitted a formal offer. League sources indicate that the 49ers are in the process of finalizing the sale of more than 6% of the team to three Bay Area families.
The valuation of the franchise in this transaction exceeds $8.5 billion, which would make it the highest for a sports franchise in history.
The buyers are the Khosla, Deeter, and Griffith families. The Khosla family will acquire 3.1%, the Deeters 2.1%, and the Griffiths 1%.
The NFL is expected to formally approve the transactions at next week’s owners’ meeting in Minneapolis.
If an opportunity that makes sense exists, we will always explore it, but I am not sure what we will end up doing.
Jed York, 49ers Owner
The three buyers have experience in venture capital. Vinod Khosla is co-founder of Sun Microsystems and founder of Khosla Ventures. Byron Deeter is a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, and William Griffith is a partner at Iconiq Capital.
In other franchise-related matters, the Los Angeles Chargers are seeking approval to sell an 8% stake to a private investment firm.
