Ratner to sell $700M in bonds for Nets arena

Developer and current New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner will soon sell $700 million in tax-free bonds to fund a new basketball arena for his team, he said earlier this week. The bonds must be sold before the Dec. 31 Internal Revenue Service deadline. The news comes on the heels of a deal between Ratner and Russian metal tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov, under which Prokhorov’s holding company, Onexim, will provide $200 million in financing for the arena. In exchange, Prokhorov will receive an 80 percent stake in the Nets, a 45 percent stake in the arena, and an option on 20 percent of the rest of Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project, valued at $4.9 billion.

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