Suns owner may be hitting the books
Jun 8, 2011, 3:31 PM | Updated: 4:37 pm
Could you be able to buy a book on business along side a Steve Nash jersey this fall at the US Airways Center? Probably not, but one of the stakeholders in the Phoenix Suns will more than likely have a part in selling you something to read in the near future.
That’s because according to the Wall Street Journal Jahm Najafi, the vice chairman of the Suns, is close to purchasing the embattled Borders bookstore chain.
Jahm Najafi isn’t in the deal-making stratosphere of buyout king Henry Kravis. But the CEO of Phoenix private-equity firm Najafi Cos. is in the mix for a high-profile deal. Najafi is in talks to buy bookstore chain Borders Group out of bankruptcy protection, according to The Journal’s Jeff Trachtenberg and Mike Spector.
Najafi Cos.’ biggest previous deal splash was its 2008 agreement to take over the parent company of the Book-of-the-Month Club and BMG Music Service. Najafi also has an investment in the Phoenix Suns basketball team.
Most of the Borders in the Valley were closed as part of the companies bankruptcy proceedings, but we can’t help but wonder if Jack McCallum’s fantastic book on Mike D’Antoni’s Suns, Seven Seconds or Less, will be displayed prominently at stores across the country.
