Pera adding star power

Source: Timberlake in Grizzlies bid

Pop star Justin Timberlake has decided to secure a stake in his hometown’s professional sports franchise.

Timberlake, 31, who grew up near Millington, has agreed to become a limited partner in Robert Pera’s bid to purchase the Memphis Grizzlies from Michael Heisley, a source close to Pera confi rmed Thursday night.

Pera, 34, agreed in June to the purchase and continues to undergo the standard vetting by the NBA. The league’s majority owners will have to vote to approve his ownership bid, but if it’s approved, he’ll become just the second majority owner in the franchise’s 11-plus years in Memphis.

Last month, Pera agreed to terms with a group of local minority partners that includes AutoZone founder J. R. “Pitt” Hyde and financier Staley Cates, who were minority owners under Heisley. In the new agreement, which is for about one-third of the team, Pera agreed to terms that will effectively guarantee the team’s future in Memphis for the next 15 years.

“Most i mportantly, the team’s not going anywhere,” Cates said Aug. 22. “That’s the whole point. That’s the main thing that this is all about.”

Timberlake has won six Grammy Awards and an Emmy with his role as a solo entertainer and with the group *NSYNC. He grew up in Shelby Forest

and attended E. E. Jeter Elementary before leaving the area to pursue his musical career.

In focusing on his hometown in recent years, he spent heavily to transform the old Big Creek Golf Course near Millington into Mirimichi and has donated hundred of thousands toward Memphis music.

Pera representatives have been in Memphis recently on what was called a “listening tour” and an effort to secure local minority owners.

Pera is believed to have agreed to a $350 million purchase price for the team. Pera is the 34-yearold CEO of Ubiquiti Networks, a San Jose wireless technology firm that he founded.

It’s unclear if and when the NBA will sign off on Pera’s deal.

Speaking to reporters in Las Vegas in July, NBA Commissioner David Stern offered a clue when he said the league’s vetting was “proceeding on pace and we hope in the next couple of months to be able to approve that.”