Suns owner Mat Ishbia ’embarrassed’ by 2024-25 season
At a Phoenix Suns press conference, team owner Mat Ishbia said he’s setting standards for what he expects from all coaching hires going forward.
Two Phoenix Suns minority owners filed a complaint against majority owner Mat Ishbia over access to financial records.The minority owners allege Ishbia engaged in undisclosed side deals and unilateral expenses, refusing transparency.
Two Phoenix Suns minority owners have filed a complaint against Suns Legacy Holdings led by team owner Mat Ishbia for refusing to “permit the inspection of books and records,” to which they believe they’re entitled.
The Arizona Republic has obtained the complaint, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery and dated Aug. 21 on behalf of the minority ownership groups Kisco WC Sports II, LLC and Kent Circle Investments by the New York-based Quinn Emanuel law firm.
Andy Kohlberg is CEO of Kisco Senior Living and Scott Seldin is president of Kent Circle Partners, according to the Ocala Ranch website. Kohlberg and Seldin are Suns minority owners. Kohlberg served as Suns vice chairman when Robert Sarver was the team owner.
“Our clients sued to obtain records to which they are entitled as minority owners of the Suns,” said Michael Carlinsky and Michael Barlow of Quinn Emanuel in a statement released Wednesday, Aug. 27. “They are concerned by the manager’s approach towards minority owners, and want more information about certain spending and capital raises in which the manager has engaged. Transparency with minority owners is not optional, and our clients think it is critical to the success of the Suns.”
The Phoenix Suns declined to comment on the complaint when reached by The Republic.
This recent complaint centers around “undisclosed side deals” and unilateral expenses by Ishbia, the complaint alleges. Kohlberg and Seldin are seeking basic information, or transparency, on the usage of those funds.
The action seeks information on the Suns’ business and financial condition, and specifically, breaches of an LLC agreement, how Ishbia is handling the franchise and possible conflicts of interest, according to the filing.
The “side deals” are viewed as a potential violation of the LLC agreement, according to the complaint.
In September 2024, according to the complaint, Kohlberg began negotiating a buyout in conversations with Ishbia’s adviser. Seldin wasn’t considering a buyout at the time, but he also took issue with Ishbia.
Months later, after continued conversations, Kohlberg requested that Ishbia respond to Kisco’s offer to sell its units by June 1, 2025.
In reaction, Ishbia, according to the complaint, issued a capital call June 2 that alleged a “leverage strategy to exert pressure on and dilute” the minority owners.
A letter obtained by The Republic, attorneys representing Suns Legacy Holdings and controlling stakeholder, ISH Suns LLC, addresses Kisco and Kent Circle “demanding” the Suns buy their interest in the team for $825 million based on the Suns now being worth $6 billion.
Ishbia bought the Suns and Phoenix Mercury for a then-record $4 billion during the 2022-23 season. Forbes reported the Suns being worth $4.3 billion in October 2024.
The letter suggests that value is close to reaching $7 billion and that Kohlberg and Seldin don’t have the right to demand ISH Suns acquire their interest or their demands based on the team’s value. The attorney let it be known Kohlberg and Seldin can sell their share to another person.
When Ishbia bought the team during the 2022-23 NBA season, all the Suns minority owners were offered to sell their interests using the same franchise valuation at the time ISH Suns, the letter states.
Fourteen of the 16 partners accepted ISH Suns’s initial buyout offer which was, at the time, the highest sale price for an NBA team.
Only Kohlberg and Seldin didn’t take the offer, the letter states. The Suns aren’t feeling obligated to buy out the two minority owners.
A representative of Quinn Emanuel declined to comment beyond the court filing.
A sticking point in the complaint is the minority owners didn’t receive any information on the funding for the Mercury’s new $100 million practice facility. Ishbia purchased the Mercury along with the Suns in February 2023.
According to the complaint, Ishbia has “refused” to provide information on how the facility was funded other than to say it’s in compliance with “its duties under the LLC agreement.”
The plaintiffs are requesting the court “require” the Suns to “produce immediately” their requests, pay “reasonable legal fees, costs, and expenses, including attorney’s fees and other professionals’ fees” in connection with requesting books and demands in this litigation and “any and all other or further relief as the Court may deem just and proper.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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