NBA's New Orleans Hornets Sold to Part-Owner Chouest, Times-Picayune Says

Minority owner Gary Chouest has reached an agreement to purchase the remaining 75 percent of the New Orleans Hornets from George Shinn, the Times-Picayune reported, citing unidentified people in the National Basketball Association.

Chouest, who built Edison Chouest Offshore into one of the biggest companies in the oilfield-services industry, has been trying to increase his 25 percent stake in the team since mid- April, the New Orleans newspaper said. The report didn’t list a purchase price.

The team will hold a press conference on May 5 to announce the ownership change, according to the Times-Picayune. Team spokesman Harold Kaufman declined to comment on the report.

Shinn, who founded the NBA team in 1988 in Charlotte, North Carolina, had prostate-cancer surgery and now wants to focus on other things in his life, the Times-Picayune said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Curtis Eichelberger in Washington at ceichelberge@bloomberg.net

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