A group spear-headed by the former basketball great "Magic" Johnson has agreed to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team for a record $2 billion US dollars, the highest price for a major league US sports team.
The deal, if approved, will cap a two-year drama that started with the divorce of owner Frank McCourt and wound its way through bankruptcy court.
Magic Johnson, who ended his 12-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1991 after he was diagnosed with HIV, was a minority owner of the NBA team for several years after his retirement, and built a business that owns movie theaters, health clubs and other properties.
The Dodgers deal could still be challenged because it may be viewed as a pre-emptive bid to keep out bidders who may be better capitalised.
