Sydney Kings and Flames welcome chair of Tesla into ownership group
Sydney’s basketball teams have welcomed a late-season addition, not on the court but in the ownership, with Wollemi Capital Group (WCG) looking to invest in Hoops Capital Pty Ltd, the owners of NBL and WNBL teams the Sydney Kings and Sydney Uni Flames.
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WCG, the investment office of the Denholm family, is a group with “a mission to invest in businesses and ventures that deliver positive impacts for the communities in which we live and work”, according to their website.
This also means that Robyn Denholm – WCG’s founder and director – who is also the current chair of Tesla and was formerly the companies CFO, will become one of the first Australian female sports teams owners, a fact that both Denholm and the Kings are extremely proud of.
“We are blown away by the vision and work that Paul Smith and the entire Hoops Capital organisation has done,” Denholm said.
“We are particularly impressed with the commitment to diversity shown by being the only organisation in Australia with both female and male basketball teams at the highest level. Wollemi Capital Group is excited to be creating a long-term partnership.”
Paul Smith, who is the current majority owner of Hoops Capital, welcomed the Denholms investment in the future of the team and Australian basketball more broadly.
“This an important milestone in the long-term planning and development of professional basketball in Sydney and Australia,” Smith said.
“The opportunity for Andrew Bogut and I to be joined by Wollemi Capital Group as we build a truly complete basketball business is something I am personally thrilled by.
“We are delighted to have Robyn join us in her capacity as founder of the Wollemi Capital Group. With her corporate acumen and experience, she will be an asset to our board. She joins us alongside Matthew and Victoria who bring a clear passion for both men’s and women’s basketball in our ownership. I think this diversity will ensure we are in a great place to achieve something very meaningful over the next 20 years.”
As well as Smith, WCG will also be joining former NBA player Andrew Bogut, who also holds a stake in the ownership of the Kings, the NBL team that he also spent the final two years of his career playing for.
