Expert: Fabio Anderle - 10/27/2010

Question
i have (had?) 11 shares of boston celtics stock bought over time obviously several years ago. i now read that they have no value but i was never informed as to selling it back to the new owners etc. is it too late? if not, how do i go about it, or do i just have worthless papers to show my greatgrandchildren that i was once a "part owner" of the boston celtics???

Answer
Al,

as I wrote previously, when former owner Paul Gaston sold the Celtics to Wycliffe Grousbeck's local investment group Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C. in September 2002 all the individual owners of stock certificates had to resell their shares back to BBP, as per their agreement with the NBA, once the change of ownership of the team became finalized. I am not sure you can sell your shares anymore, but you can try contacting "Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C." (151 Merrimac St. Boston, MA 02114-4714, Phone 617-854-8000, Fax 617-367-4286) and ask them directly what you should do.

Just to give you a hint on the possible stock value, before the deal was made public Celtics stocks closed at 10.60 $ each. But Grousbeck, on behalf of Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C., later stated that the 58,000 unit holders would get 27 $ for each stock.

Of course, as a fan, I would keep the stocks in a frame on my wall, but in case you want to sell them I'd suggest to scan the market on Ebay to see if there's a Celtics diehard fan who would buy them as collectibles.

I hope this helps


Fabio