Steve Ballmer Completes His Acquisition Of The Forum In Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Former Microsoft chief executive and the current owner of NBA Franchise, the Los Angeles Clippers, has completed his acquisition of The Forum from Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp.

The deal, completed through Ballmer’s CAPSS LLC, was worth a reported $400 million in cash.

Following the transaction, The Forum will be operated by the newly-created Forum Entertainment LLC, with its current leadership team of Geni Lincoln and Mike Fallon remaining in place and reporting to Gillian Zucker, Clippers President of Business Operations.

“We are excited to welcome The Forum to our family. The talented team at The Forum has created a world-class live entertainment venue, and we are committed to building upon that reputation,” said Zucker. “Having The Forum just a short distance from the L.A. Clippers’ new arena will give us the opportunity to provide the City of Inglewood with a number of benefits, including a collaborative approach to managing traffic and community activities.”

A press statement from CAPSS said that it is expected that all other staff at the Forum will remain in place as employees of Forum Entertainment LLC following the transition in ownership.

The Forum Presented by Chase is the only arena-sized major market venue in the country that is fully dedicated to music and entertainment without a sports franchise as a tenant. Plans for a new privately-financed 18,000-capacity arena that will serve as a new home court for the Clippers is still moving forward with public hearings slated to begin this summer.

MSG had been engaged in a multi-front legal battle with the city and the Clippers over the construction of the new arena and Ballmer’s acquisition of the Forum is likely to reduce legal obstacles to obtaining necessary permissions from the city for the project.