Mat Ishbia and the two Phoenix Suns and Mercury minority owners suing him intend to move their dispute to binding mediation, according to a document filed Monday in Delaware state court.
They have asked the judge overseeing their case to approve an order that will allow them to resolve their case after an agreement by both sides “to participate in a confidential binding mediation process, which upon completion will result in the dismissal of the action.”
Andy Kohlberg and Scott Seldin, longtime Suns and Phoenix Mercury minority owners, sued Ishbia this summer, accusing him of lack of transparency in how he ran the organization and of using the franchises as his own “piggy bank.” Ishbia countersued and said Kohlberg and Seldin were looking to use their lawsuits to gain a large buyout of their stakes in the teams and called it “extortionate.” Kohlberg and Seldin are the only holdover owners from when Robert Sarver owned the teams.
Ishbia bought the Suns from Sarver in 2023 at a then-league record $4 billion valuation. Sarver sold the team after he was suspended for a year and fined $10 million by the NBA following a league investigation that found he had been discriminatory and created a hostile workplace.
The law firm Quinn Emanuel, which represents Kohlberg and Seldin, first brought the case this summer. Quinn Emanuel attorney Michael Carlinsky declined to comment for this story.
Ishbia had initially offered to buy out Kohlberg and Seldin when he bought the franchises, as he has with all other pre-existing minority owners, and the two sides have discussions about selling. The lawsuit stemmed from a disagreement over how much Ishbia would pay for their shares.
Kohlberg said in a filing that he first went to Ishbia to buy out his stake in September 2024. After no response, he said, he tried again and asked him to respond by June 1, 2025. Ishbia, both sides agree, scheduled a capital call this past June; the two minority owners claim the move was an attempt to dilute their stakes. They sued and said that because Ishbia did not make a contribution he was at risk of himself being diluted in his majority ownership share of the franchises.
The two sides will now move their case to arbitration and find a resolution that way instead of continuing to litigate in a Delaware court. It is expected that Ishbia will buy out Kohlberg and Seldin’s stakes in the franchises.
The parties will now move their case to arbitration and find a resolution that way instead of continuing to litigate in a Delaware court.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury, NBA, WNBA, Sports Business
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