Tom Dundon group enters formal agreement buy Trail Blazers

PORTLAND, Ore. — Paul Allen’s estate has formally reached an agreement to sell the Portland Trail Blazers to a group of investors led by Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon.

Dundon announced a tentative deal last month to buy the team and keep it in Portland. The Allen estate announced Friday that it had “entered a formal sales agreement” with the group. Terms were not disclosed.

Dundon’s group includes Portland-based Sheel Tyle, the co-founder of investment firm Collective Global; Marc Zahr, co-president of Blue Owl Capital; and the Cherng Family Trust, the family office and investment firm of the co-founders of Panda Express.

The NBA Board of Governors has to ratify any final purchase agreement. ESPN previously reported the deal was for $4 billion. In March, the Boston Celtics sold for $6.1 billion.

The Blazers sale is expected to close by the end of this year.

Dundon, 53, bought a stake in the Hurricanes in 2017 and became the majority owner in 2018. He is chairman and managing partner of the Dallas-based firm Dundon Capital Partners.

Allen’s estate announced in May that it had begun the process of selling the Trail Blazers. The billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, who died in 2018 at age 65 from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, originally bought the Blazers in 1988 for $70 million.

Allen also owned the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and was a co-owner of Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders.

Since his death, Allen’s sister, Jody Allen, has served as chair of both the Blazers and Seahawks and is a trustee of the Paul G. Allen Trust. Paul Allen stipulated in his will the eventual sale of his teams, with the proceeds to be given to philanthropic endeavors.

The estate has not announced plans for the sale of the Seahawks or the 25% stake in the Sounders.