Eric Church Joins Buyer Group Acquiring NBA Charlotte Hornets

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Eric Church. Photo: Joe Pugliese

Hornets Sports & Entertainment (HSE) has announced that country music star Eric Church is set to be a minority owner of NBA team the Charlotte Hornets, as a group named the Buyer Group is acquiring the NBA franchise from majority stakeholder Michael Jordan.

The Buyer Group is led by Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall. Plotkin, who acquired a minority stake in the Hornets in 2019, has been an alternate governor on the NBA Board of Governors since 2019, and is the Founder & Chief Investment Officer of Tallwoods Capital LLC. Schnall is Co-President of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC, where he has worked for 27 years, and has been a significant minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks as well as an alternate governor on the NBA Board of Governors since 2015. Schnall is in the process of selling his investment in the Hawks, which is expected to be completed in the next several weeks.

Along with Church, the Buyer Group will also include Dan Sundheim, Ian Loring, Dyal HomeCourt Partners, North Carolina native recording artist J. Cole and several local Charlotte investors, including Amy Levine Dawson and Damian Mills.

As part of the transaction, Jordan will retain a minority ownership share of the team. The transaction is subject to the approval of the NBA Board of Governors. Along with the Hornets, HSE ownership includes the Greensboro Swarm (NBA G League) and Hornets Venom GT (NBA 2K League), as well as managing and operating Spectrum Center, each of which is included as part of the sale.

Steven Boero
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