Owner Michael Heisley May Have Finally Found Someone To Take the Grizzlies Off His Hands

You may remember that Memphis Grizzlies majority owner Michael Heisley attempted to sell his team to a group that included Christian Laettner in 2006. That deal fell through when the buyers missed a deadline, and Heisley's been looking for a buyer ever since. Looks like he's found one in Robert J. Pera.

Here's the AP:

Pera, 34, is a former Apple engineer who left in 2005 to start Ubiquiti Networks, a communications technology company that makes WiFi networking equipment. He became a billionaire in October 2011 when his company went public. A stock dip earlier this month has left Pera worth an estimated $980 million, but he has been described as a big basketball fan who loves to play the game.

34! That would make Pera ... well, actually, he'd still be the oldest Grizzly by about three-and-a-half years. (Man, that team is young.) But Pera would still be the youngest NBA majority owner by far. ESPN reported the estimated sale price to be about $350 million.

Heisley had proven to be a somewhat bumbling owner who made a few pretty grievous errors in negotiations with his players. Fox Sports' Chris Tomassan tweeted a remark in which Heisley said the league wouldn't approve the sale for at least another 30 to 60 days, which means Grizzlies fans will have to keep the champagne on ice for about another month or so.

[ AP/ ESPN]