Tesla chair Robyn Denholm buys into Sydney Kings in landmark deal for female sports ownership in Australia

Robyn Denholm will take a 30 per cent stake in the NBL club, joining Paul Smith and Andrew Bogut.

Tesla chair Robyn Denholm is buying a 30 per cent stake in the Sydney Kings basketball team. Picture: John Feder/The Australian

Tesla chair Robyn Denholm will become one of the first female owners of a sports team in Australia after agreeing to a deal to acquire 30 per cent of National Basketball League club Sydney Kings.

The landmark deal also includes Women’s NBL club Sydney Flames as part of a transaction that likely values Sydney’s only professional basketball club at more than $35m based on other recent transactions.

Ms Denholm will join entrepreneur Paul Smith and former Australian basketball star Andrew Bogut in the Kings ownership group, and is making the purchase through her Wollemi Capital family office after initially reaching Mr Smith via a LinkedIn note late last year.

“We sat down and talked through what investments we wanted to make as a family, basketball was at the top of the list. I didn’t think there would be an opportunity to do that. And then I sent a message to Paul,” Ms Denholm told The Australian.

“For (my) kids it has been a lifelong passion around basketball. We started watching the Kings when they were formed in Sydney, and we would go down to the old stadium (the State Sports Centre) to watch the Kings play. And then we followed them to the Entertainment Centre before we moved to the US for 17 years.”

Denholm’s basketball-mad children Matthew and Victoria will be integral to the Kings group, according to Mr Smith.

“They’re acquiring 30 per cent of Hoops Capital, the operating company that includes the Flames and Kings. To that end, the objective is to have Victoria and Matthew become very active in the business with me. Robyn will be very much playing a corporate governance role and keeping me in line.”

Mr Smith is a colourful entrepreneur who sold sports consulting firm Repucom for $US195m in 2016, and maintains a voluble presence on Twitter where he often comments on Kings and wider NBL and sporting matters.

When asked, given her experience dealing with Tesla founder Elon Musk at board level for the electric vehicle global giant, what her relationship with Mr Smith would be like, Ms Denholm said: “I have no problems with the use of social media to get across the points that need to be sort of out there. And my view is you can‘t have somebody with a bold vision and a contrarian nature and then ask them to turn it off at times. So I’m very comfortable with Paul’s approach to things.”

Ms Denholm said her and her children were attracted to the Hoops Capital strategy of owning both a men’s and women’s team and also wanting to drive the growth of basketball as both a spectator and participation sport in Sydney.

“I think we were very impressed with what Paul had done with the Kings but even more importantly, the overall Hoops Capital vision. Gender equity in all facets of life is an important tenet of ours.”

Matthew Denholm said basketball was an attractive investment because of the gender balance and “I think that it could easily become the biggest sport in Australia … because it is easy to play”, while Victoria Denholm pointed out that the Flames meant the organisation “has the ability to engage with a different fanbase” than traditionally male sports.

Ms Denholm will become one of the first female team owners in Australian sport as a result of the deal, following the footsteps of Supercars team owner and Westfield heiress Betty Saunders-Klimenko,

But the Tesla chair said she expected more women entrepreneurs to join the ownership ranks. “I will say that most other people notice the fact that I‘ve done quite a few things as one of the only females, but quite honestly I don’t notice it and I just do what I need to do.

“It wasn’t until (my family) pointed out there weren’t any other female owners in this league or in very many sporting organisations within Australia that I realised it. But I’m sure that will change over time.”

The Kings acquisition marks the first major deal for Wollemi Capital, and Ms Denholm said her and her family were keen to make more social impact investments over time.

“Our whole mission is around impact. Sport and diversity and equity is certainly that, and the scientific and technology sectors are another area that we’ve written into our charter and we’re also very passionate about.

“This is our first direct investment and we will take some time to work through it, but it‘s a family office that I hope over the years can have a great impact on a number of different fields.”