Is Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov serious about becoming an investor in the Nets and Barclays Center?
I sent Prokhorov's blog to a Russian-speaking American friend living in Russia, who responded, "Pay no attention to the robot translation. I think he is serious."
Indeed, Reuters thinks so, too, reporting:
Prokhorov's proposals, sent to existing Nets shareholders at the weekend, would see his Onexim group provide a loan to build a substantial part of a new arena, according to a post on his website, md-prokhorov.livejournal.com.
How that might work remains unclear. But expect more details to emerge soon enough.
I sent Prokhorov's blog to a Russian-speaking American friend living in Russia, who responded, "Pay no attention to the robot translation. I think he is serious."
Indeed, Reuters thinks so, too, reporting:
Prokhorov's proposals, sent to existing Nets shareholders at the weekend, would see his Onexim group provide a loan to build a substantial part of a new arena, according to a post on his website, md-prokhorov.livejournal.com.
How that might work remains unclear. But expect more details to emerge soon enough.
There's something else going on here. The google robot isn't rendering it perfectly. But:
ReplyDelete"Under the deal the group will attract a similar loan to western banks (I think, if successful, the deal will simply unique!)."
Replace the "to" with "from" and you have an intriguing set-up. My guess is the banks are providing letters of credit rather than loans to the arena.
You also have a financing potentially divorced from the dictates of the bond/market/ratings agencies. No-one's done this in sports for quite a few years.
would putin okay this deal?
ReplyDeletewould prokhorov survive the nba's ownership vetting process?
would the nba agree to prokhorov's demands that russian players participate in nba training camps and that russian coaches & trainers be given apprenticeships in the nba?
highly doubtful, to say the least
Don't think he's going to stop with the Nets. You can bet he's watching the Islanders situation very closely out in Nassau County behind the scenes. In Russia, the big sport is Hockey and don't think that if he buys the Nets, he won't make a play for the Islanders if Wang sells. There's definitely more to this story. Stay tuned.
ReplyDelete