Mandalay Entertainment chairman Peter Guber has purchased the NBA's Golden State Warriors from Chris Cohan with Joe Lacob, managing partner at the private equity firm Kleiner Perkins, sources close to the deal have confirmed to TheWrap.
Reports put the winning bid at $450 million, which tops the previous NBA record of $401 million that Robert Sarver paid for the Phoenix Suns in 2004.
The deal is pending approval from the league.
Guber, the former chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, reportedly beat out rival bidder Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle, who was long considered the front-runner to take over the team, as well as Mark Mastrov, the founder of 24-Hour Fitness.
Lacob, who is already a minority owner of the Boston Celtics, will act as the team's primary owner, while Guber will assume a secondary role. Lacob will likely have to sell his minority interest in the Celtics.
Guber is no stranger to the sports world, as Mandalay Entertainment owns and operates minor league teams, including two affiliates of the New York Yankees.
The Warriors finished 26-56 last season and has had the second worst record in the league (behind the Los Angeles Clippers) in the 15 years since Cohan bought the team in 1995.
