Hawks part-owner Bruce Levenson denied a report Thursday by Sports Illustrated that the basketball team is on the verge of being sold.
"Not true," Levenson said in an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "We will issue a statement shortly."
That statement indicated a deal is not imminent but reiterated that the Hawks' owners are at least seeking new investors.
"As we have stated for an extended period of time, we engaged an investment banker to assist us in looking for investors for the Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena operating rights," the statement said. "We have spoken with a number of parties, but at this time, there is no deal in place, nor is there an exclusive negotiating agreement in place. We will have no further comment at this time."
As the AJC has previously reported, the Hawks' ownership group, through investment bank The Raine Group, has had talks with various potential buyers or investors over the past year. Those efforts continue.
Typically, a prospective seller and buyer of a sports franchise would enter an exclusive negotiating agreement when talks reach a serious, detailed stage.
The Hawks' owners this spring entered an exclusivity agreement with outgoing San Diego Padres owner John Moores about a possible sale of a majority stake in the basketball team, but that agreement was mutually ended May 20 after negotiations built little momentum. The end of Moores' exclusivity reopened the process to other bidders.
Sports Illustrated reported on its website Thursday that an unnamed source said a Hawks sale was "about to be consummated" but that the source declined to identify the buyer.
The Hawks are owned by a seven-person group, Atlanta Spirit, which recently sold the Thrashers to a Canadian group that is moving the hockey team to Winnipeg. Even if the Hawks are sold, the team is not in danger of following the Thrashers out of town. The bonds that funded the construction of Philips Arena require the Hawks to play their home games in the arena until the bonds are paid off, which is scheduled to be 2028.
Michael Gearon Jr., a Hawks part-owner who serves as the team's NBA governor, is out of the country and could not be reached Thursday. Gearon previously has said that he wants to keep his stake in the franchise.
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