Bluestone Equity Partners, the private equity firm founded by former IMG and NBA executive Bobby Sharma, has raised USD300m in a growth equity round to invest the global sports, media and entertainment industry.
Sharma was previously global head of basketball and strategic initiatives at the Endeavor-owned IMG agency, and general counsel of the NBA Development League, where he helped set up the NBA’s first minor league. He leads Bluestone alongside former Inner Circle Sports executive Kyle Charters.
Sharma said the new fund would help scale high-quality assets with proven models in the sports, media and entertainment sectors. The fund’s philosophy will be to partner with “exceptional management teams, boards and investors who we believe can achieve extraordinary results”.