Alex Rodriguez and billionaire business partner Marc Lore ‘get new backer and submit signed financial documentation’ to inch closer to fully purchasing the Minnesota Timberwolves for $1.5billion

Baseball legend Alex Rodriguez and his billionaire business partner Marc Lore have taken a step closer to completing a full buyout of the company. Minnesota Timber wolves.

Yesterday it was reported that the duo were reportedly scrambling to find $300 million after private equity giant The Carlyle Group withdrew its support for the deal.

At the time, a spokesperson for Rodriguez told DailyMail.com that the deadline would be met because the duo had other financing options.

A report published Wednesday by The Athletic claims the duo submitted signed financial documents to the NBA – and that Dyal Capital Partners has joined as an investor and is providing them with the necessary funds to finalize the transaction.

The deadline for Lore and Rodriguez to close the deal to purchase the remaining 40 percent of the franchise from current principal owner Glen Taylor is the end of March. Once completed, and if the NBA Board of Governors approves their structure, they will own the majority stake in the WNBA’s Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx.

Rodriguez and Lore have been in the process of buying the Timberwolves for three years

The purchase also comes with a majority stake in the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx.

Rodriguez and Lore reached an agreement with Timberwolves majority owner Glen Taylor in 2021 to purchase the basketball teams for approximately $1.5 million.

The Timberwolves were last valued at $2.8 billion by SporticoRodriguez and Lore paying a little more than half that amount to purchase the franchise.

The next round of funding would take the duo from 40 percent control of the team to 80 percent.

Both sides are on schedule to complete the deal by the end of March, the spokesperson added. The NBA would have to approve any other investors.

An NBA spokesperson told DailyMail.com that the league “has not denied Carlyle’s proposed investment in the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx.”

Instead, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, the decision was mutual because Carlyle could not agree to certain unspecified demands from the NBA.

Speaking to journalist David Shama, Taylor revealed on Tuesday that the equity group was not currently in place.

“They had a capital group that was going to step in and invest $300 million, and either that capital group pulled out or the NBA turned them down,” Taylor told Shama. “They need to go out and find new income. That I know. I don’t know if they found it or what they’re going to do. We haven’t seen the ownership schedule yet.

Lore is a former chairman and CEO of Walmart and a longtime business partner of Rodriguez

Rodriguez retired from professional baseball in 2016 and has made numerous investments since

Lore and Rodriguez raised funds for the sale worth $2.1 billion, according to Sportico.

The Carlyle Group is also currently supporting the $58 million sale of the NWSL’s Seattle Reign.

One of Carlyle’s co-founders, David Rubenstein, is set to purchase Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles.

Rodriguez’s post-baseball career was dominated by broadcasting and entrepreneurship.

The acquisition of the Timberwolves and Lynx would be its first ownership of a professional sports team after bids to purchase the New York Mets fell through in 2020.