Boston Celtics Sold to Consortium of Investors, Including Sixth Street

Symphony Technology Group CIO Bill Chisholm is the lead investor in the $6.1 billion deal for one of the NBA’s most recognizable and valuable franchises.

Boston Basketball Partners LLC, an investment entity which owns the National Basketball Association’s Boston Celtics, announced Thursday that it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell the team to a consortium of investors led by Bill Chisholm, the managing partner and CIO of private equity firm Symphony Technology Group

The consortium also includes private equity firm Sixth Street Partners and Boston-area business executives Rob Hale and Brue A. Beal Jr. If approved by the NBA Board of Governors, the deal would value the team at $6.1 billion. In October 2024, Forbes estimated the Celtics’ value at $6 billion, fourth largest among NBA teams after the Golden State Warriors ($8.8 billion), New York Knicks ($7.5 billion) and Los Angeles Lakers ($7.1 billion). The Celtics won their record 18th NBA title in June 2024.

Earlier this week, the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball announced a strategic partnership with Sixth Street, which is expected to see the firm make an equity investment in the team.

Sixth Street has become a prolific sports investor in recent years. In August 2024, the firm was selected by the National Football League as one of a handful of firms eligible to invest in NFL teams, following the release of new rules that would allow private equity investment in the league.

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The firm’s sports, media, entertainment and telecom group has made investments in Bay FC of the National Women’s Soccer League, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona of Spain’s La Liga, and the Soccer Champions Tour. Sixth Street also owns a 20% stake in the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.

In 2020, the NBA began to allow investments in its teams from private equity firms. Arctos Partners and Dyal HomeCourt, which is now part of Blue Owl Capital, are two other firms that have ownership stakes in NBA teams. Under current NBA rules, investors can take up to a 20% stake in a team and are eligible to invest in as many as five of the league’s franchises, according to law firm Akin Gump. Eligible funds must have at least $750 million in assets, and any single investment cannot exceed more than 25% of the fund’s AUM.

In 2022, the NBA voted to allow asset owners, including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and endowments, to take passive stakes in the league’s teams. In 2023, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System acquired a stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd., the owner of several Canadian sports teams, including the NBA’s Toronto Raptors and the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs.