Details of the Koch deal emerge, including a $200 million value for New York Liberty, a WNBA record

The devil is always in the details, especially in transactions where the number of zeros and other digits is eight or nine digits. This also applies to the sale of a 15 percent stake in BSE Global, their holding company, by Joe and Clara Wu Tsai to Julia Koch and family.

Both the New York Post and Sportico are reporting on the details of the deal on Friday, including how the deal was structured in terms of cash and debt and how much each element of BSE Global – the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, Barclays Center and the rest – is worth.

The bottom line is that the earlier figures are somewhat rounded up. The valuation, initially reported at $6 billion, is actually $5.8 billion when all elements are taken into account, and the Tsais’ cash balance is $688 million, still a huge sum. In fact, much of the Koch family’s spending is going toward paying down BSE Global’s debt.

The Post’s Brian Lewis and Josh Kosman also report that the deal values ​​the Liberty at “approximately” $200 million, which is most likely a WNBA record and reflects the rise of the women’s league. Last year, the Seattle Storm sold minority shares that valued the team at $151 million. The Tsais bought the Liberty from James Dolan and MSG in 2019, reportedly in exchange for assuming the team’s debt and the promise of future profit sharing.

Lewis and Kosman also report that the deal values ​​the Nets at $3.8 billion and the Barclays Center at $1.5 billion, a big jump from 2019, when the Tsais paid Prokhorov $2.35 billion for the team and $1 billion for the Barclays Center.

The Post also reported that Koch will not be named an NBA deputy governor as part of the deal. The current deputies are Oliver Weisberg, who runs the Tsais family’s investment vehicle, Blue Pool Capital; Sam Zussman, CEO of BSE Global, and Sean Marks.

The agreement must be approved by the league’s owners. Sportico has reported that the NBA’s Advisory/Finance Committee recommended approval. Owners have until Monday to vote on it.