Memphis Grizzlies Sale To Robert Pera In Trouble Of Falling Through?

It seems as though the sale of the Memphis Grizzlies to California-based billionaire Robert Pera Jr. may be in danger of falling through after Pera's net worth took a massive tumble in recent weeks, according to the New York Daily News.

Pera, who agreed last week to purchase the Grizzlies for an estimated $350 million, owns Ubiquiti Networks, a controversial communications technology company, and their stock has plummeted over the past two weeks.

The drop in the companies stock value has also caused his overall worth to drop from over $1 billion all the way down to $200 million, according to league sources.

Unless Pera has a group of investors lined up to help him with the purchase, there's a very good chance that the deal will fall through (previous reports stated that Pera had no such group in place and was planning to make the purchase on his own).

If Pera is unable to buy the team, current owner Michael Heisley will resume control over the franchise.

This wouldn't be the first time that Heisley has seen a deal fall through that would have transferred his 70% stake in the franchise to a new owner.

In 2007, Heisley had a deal in place with an ownership group headed by Brian Davis and former NBA player Christian Laettner before it eventually fell apart.

Heisley, who is based in Chicago and is 75 years old, has been trying to sell the franchise for quite some time as he is ready to enjoy retirement, however, he has been unable to find a new owner that is willing to keep the franchise in Memphis.

Larry Ellison, another California-based billionaire, had serious interest in purchasing the Grizzlies, however, Heisley refused to even entertain his offers, as he wants the franchise to stay in Memphis and knew Ellison had intentions of relocating the team.

Unless Pera can form an investment group on the fly, his chances of becoming the youngest owner in the NBA are not looking too well as of right now.