Dispute over Suns’ ownership to be resolved via mediation

The legal dispute involving Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia and two minority owners of the Suns is moving towards a confidential binding mediation, which may result in Ishbia purchasing the minority owners’ 13% stake at a price set by a mediator, as indicated by a recent court document obtained by ESPN.

The mutual agreement by both parties was submitted on Monday in Delaware State Court, and it will ultimately lead to the joint dismissal of the lawsuit.

Previously, the lawsuit, initiated by attorneys for Scott Seldin and Andy Kohlberg in November 2025, escalated to a point where an attorney representing them claimed that Ishbia’s majority ownership of the franchise could be at risk, with control possibly shifting to Seldin and Kohlberg.

Currently, Ishbia is positioned to buy them out, which would eliminate the last two members of the ownership group who remained from the previous Suns administration under Robert Sarver. Following the acquisition of their shares, Ishbia would increase his majority ownership stake to approximately 96%.

A spokesperson for Ishbia declined to comment. A source familiar with the situation noted that Ishbia had been engaged in extensive discussions with Seldin and Kohlberg regarding the buyout of their shares prior to the litigation, and that his intention had always been to acquire the limited partners.

Seldin and Kohlberg are represented by Michael Carlinsky of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. Carlinsky refrained from commenting on the latest development, which follows a series of lawsuits and legal actions, the most recent of which led him to assert that Ishbia’s stake in the Suns was at risk of being diluted from 83.2% to 32.7%.

Ishbia purchased the Suns in 2023 from Sarver after an NBA investigation into Sarver’s behavior and the team’s workplace environment.

At the time of Sarver’s sale to Ishbia in 2023, 14 of the 16 partners in the Suns’ ownership group accepted Ishbia’s buyout offer, valuing the team at $4 billion. Seldin and Kohlberg opted not to sell.

A year later, in September 2024, Kohlberg began discussions for a buyout with an adviser to Ishbia. Seldin, on the other hand, did not pursue a buyout. Kohlberg’s negotiations continued into 2025. His attorneys stated that Ishbia conducted a $250 million capital call raise—where investors are requested to fulfill their financial commitments—on June 2, 2025, and “threatened the minority owners with a punitive dilution of their ownership interests” if they did not comply within 10 days.

According to a prior court filing, Ishbia indicated that the capital call raise was not fully funded and initiated another capital call raise on July 8, 2025, with another 10-day deadline.

In both cases, Seldin and Kohlberg claimed they fulfilled their portion of the capital call raise. The two subsequently filed a lawsuit in August 2025 against Ishbia to obtain internal financial documents. Shortly thereafter, the Suns sent a letter to Kohlberg and Seldin, stating that the two men demanded the Suns buy their ownership share for $825 million, a valuation that would place the team’s worth at approximately $6 billion—a 60% increase from the value at which Ishbia acquired the team in 2023. The Suns asserted in the letter, obtained by ESPN, that they had no obligation to buy out Seldin and Kohlberg.

Ishbia countersued the two minority owners in October 2025, claiming they insisted he purchase their ownership shares “at an exorbitant premium.”

After eventually gaining access to the team’s financial records, Seldin and Kohlberg stated they discovered that Ishbia had not funded either capital call raise by the deadlines he established.

One month later, in November 2025, Seldin and Kohlberg filed a second lawsuit against Ishbia, accusing him of financial misconduct, including using the team as a “personal piggy bank,” which Ishbia has denied.

Seldin and Kohlberg have asserted that, according to the terms of the team’s operating agreement, they should have been able to purchase the shares Ishbia failed to fund, potentially granting them a 60% stake.

The November 2025 lawsuit from Seldin and Kohlberg represents the seventh filed against the Suns since November 2024. Other lawsuits have been initiated by current or former employees, with allegations including discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and wrongful termination.

The Suns, who hold a record of 39-28 entering Monday’s game against Boston, have denied these allegations.