Steven Rales has agreed to buy a 15 percent stake in the Indiana Pacers at a valuation of $3.47 billion.
Rales had already owned five percent of the Pacers, which brings his total stake in the franchise to 20 percent.
The deal includes a possible path to control for Rales should the Simon family ever choose to sell, according to two of the people. That could be the standard “right of first refusal” if the owners ever want to sell, or a “right of first offer,” which gives the buyer an exclusive window to secure a deal before a wider sale process is launched.
The Simon family purchased the Pacers in 1983 for $11 million.
Rales and his brother are co-founders of Danaher, which has grown via acquisition into a wide-ranging science and technology manufacturing firm.