The owners of the Boston Celtics have hired JPMorgan Chase and BDT & MSD to handle the sale of the NBA franchise, according to a person with direct knowledge of the process.

The two firms will work together on the sale, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details are confidential. It’s a prestige deal: The Celtics, one of the most recognizable brands in U.S. sports, are expected to fetch more than anyone has ever paid for control of an NBA team.

Representatives for the Celtics, JPMorgan and BDT & MSD did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Celtics owners announced the sale last month, less than two weeks after the franchise broke its NBA record of 18^th Championship. Wyc Grousbeck, the team’s governor, later said he wanted to conduct the sale in two phases – 51% now and the rest in 2028, with the understanding that he would retain control until the second transaction was completed.

Sport The Celtics are valued at $5.12 billion, the fourth-highest in the NBA and 21st among all U.S. franchises. The highest value ever achieved in an NBA control sale was $4 billion, for Mat Ishbia’s purchase of the Phoenix Suns in 2022.

Grousbeck’s group bought the Celtics in 2002 for $360 million. The consortium, which also includes Steve Pagliuca, senior advisor at Bain Capital, and Bob Epstein, founding partner of the Abbey Group, is called Banner 17 because they want the Celtics to win for 17 years.^th Title achieved in 2008.

The group is selling for family reasons, a common reason for large (and small) sports transactions. Family patriarch Irv Grousbeck is about 90 years old, and his estate planning over the past few years has revolved around what happens to the family’s most valuable asset when it ultimately passes to his four children. The Celtics have increased in value about 14 times over the course of their ownership, which is a lot of money tied up in an illiquid asset. The family ultimately decided to convert that money into cash.

JPMorgan Chase has a long history of providing stadium financing and advising clients on transactions with sports teams. BDT & MSD is the result of the merger of Byron Trott’s BDT & Co. and Michael Dell’s MSD Partners in 2023.

The multi-phase preference could prove difficult. It would mean someone paying billions for an asset without immediately gaining control, and it would also require NBA approval. The last NBA team to sell in set phases, the Minnesota Timberwolves, is currently embroiled in a legal battle over the contract, and Commissioner Adam Silver said Sport in April that the league may need to “reevaluate what types of transactions we allow.”