Eagles owner Jeff Lurie is reportedly selling part of the team
The deal values the Eagles around $8 billion, and Lurie will continue to be the majority owner with an 85% stake in the team.
The Eagles are selling small ownership stakes to two families totaling 8% of the team, the Sports Business Journal reported Monday.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie would still control 85% of the team, and isn’t planning on divesting further, according to the report. The Eagles declined to comment.
NFL team owners would need to approve the transaction at their next meeting in mid-December outside Dallas. The deals would value the Eagles at around $8 billion, Bloomberg previously reported.
The two families reportedly acquiring minority ownership stakes are:
Susan Kim, chairman of the board of semiconductor company Amkor Technology and a Bryn Mawr resident, who would buy 3.25% through a trust she created for her children. Kim is a philanthropist who sits on the board of directors of the Catholic Foundation of Greater Philadelphia.
Ed Peskowitz, founder of United Communications Group and a former co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks, who would buy 4.75% in a deal led by his children.
NFL owners voted in August to allow private equity investors to buy ownership stakes. It’s unclear how Lurie or the Eagles plan to use the influx of cash, though some or all of it could be spent on the team itself.
The money could also go directly to Lurie, 73, to help diversify his investment portfolio. Unlike some pro sports owners who grew rich in real estate or tech and hold a team as just one of their assets, Lurie’s main interest and job is running the Eagles.
Lurie reportedly spent $185 million to purchase control of the team in 1994 from Norman Braman, a record amount at the time. It was a boon for Braman, who spent just $65 million on the Birds in 1985.
Lurie has had minority investors from the start, including Firstrust Bank Chairman and CEO Richard Green and KKR partner Mike Michaelson. His ex-wife, Christina Weiss Lurie, also retained an ownership stake in the team in their divorce settlement.