Report: Owners agree to sell 100 percent of Hawks

The owners of the Atlanta Hawks have reportedly agreed to sell 100 percent of the franchise.

The owners of the Atlanta Hawks have agreed to sell 100 percent of the franchise, reports Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The team will officially go on the the market next week, the report says. 

The Hawks are owned by three groups: A Washington-based group headed by Bruce Levenson that owns 50.1 percent, an Atlanta-based group that owns 32.3 percent and a New York based group that owns 17.6 percent.

The NBA has approved agreements for all three of those groups to sell their stakes in the franchise, according to the report.

• MANNIX: What's Bruce Levenson's real motivation for selling the Hawks?

The league announced in September that Levenson had agreed to sell his controlling stake in the franchise after the revelation of a racially charged email he sent in 2012 to fellow Hawks executives.

The investigation that turned up Levenson's email is believed to have been triggered by a derogatory remark general manager Danny Ferry made about Luol Deng during a conference call with ownership.

Ferry has taken an indefinite leave of absence with the team.

• ROSENBERG: Danny Ferry should be out as Hawks general manager

Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins and a group including former NBA player Chris Webber are among those who had reportedly expressed interest in purchasing the franchise.  

Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed said in September that he had spoken with six potential buyers. In October, reports surfaced that the Hawks hired investment banks Goldman Sachs and Inner Circle Sports to sell the franchise.

Estimates suggest the franchise could be sold for more than $700 million. In May, Steve Ballmer reportedly purchased the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion, while the Milwaukee Bucks sold for a reported $550 million.