DETROIT (AP) - Billionaire investor Tom Gores has agreed to buy the Detroit Pistons and other properties, the team announced Friday.
The tentative deal, which also includes The Palace of Auburn Hills and DTE Energy Music Theatre, must be approved by the NBA. Terms were not disclosed.
Gores, the chairman and CEO of Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Platinum Equity, is buying the properties from Karen Davidson, who became the owner after her husband, Bill, died in March 2009.
“We are pleased to welcome Tom Gores as the new owner of the Detroit Pistons and Palace Sports and Entertainment,” Davidson said in a statement. “Just as my late husband, Bill Davidson, was the face of the Pistons, I am confident that Tom will bring the same energy, dedication and love to this organization.
“I look forward to seeing Tom follow in Bill’s footsteps, and carry on his legacy.”
Gores, 46, has a degree from Michigan State University but now lives in California with his wife and children.
He founded Platinum Equity in 1995, and in its 2010 list of the 400 richest people in America, Forbes put Gores in a tie for 153rd with a net worth of $2.4 billion.
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