NBA's Nets Confirm Entertaining Sale Offers, Say 'Nothing Imminent'

Galatioto Sports Partners President Sal Galatioto on the possibility of the Brooklyn Nets sale, how much they are worth and his own interest in the team.

The Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday confirmed a report that it was entertaining offers for the sale of the NBA club, saying it was "always open" to overtures, but added no deal was imminent.

A Bloomberg report, citing two sources, said Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov has retained Evercore Partners to sell the National Basketball Association team he bought in 2010 for $223 million.

"As we have said for many months, ownership is always open to listening to offers – that’s just good business," Prokhorov spokeswoman Ellen Pinchuk said in an email to Reuters.

"There is nothing imminent in terms of a sale of any stake in the team."

Prokhorov, 49, the first foreign owner of an NBA team, holds 80 percent of the club and 45 percent of Barclays Center, its 2-1/2-year-old arena. The Nets lost a reported $144 million last season.

(Reporting by Steve Ginsburg in Washington; Editing by Eric Beech)