Franchise sale: Starhorse gets Terrafirma nod
Starhorse Shipping Lines hurdled another step in its bid to join the PBA after coming into terms with Terrafirma to take over its franchise beginning in the league’s landmark 50th anniversary season.
But the sale, sources said was reached over the weekend, still has to go through the league’s Board of Governors, which is expected to tackle the manner in the soonest possible time.
“We have to go through the process of the PBA,” Terrafirma team governor and former PBA vice chairman Bobby Rosales said on Sunday.
Starhorse needs two-thirds of the board—at least eight teams—to vote in favor of the sale for it to push through.
Once the deal gets approved, the Dyip will still play in the season-ending Philippine Cup which starts in April, before wrapping up their near-decade PBA participation, which has been marred by struggles.
Terrafirma and Starhorse had been in talks for weeks, with the shipping company recently submitting a letter of intent to purchase the oft-eliminated franchise. PBA commissioner Willie Marcial had also met Starhorse’s representative in a recent meeting also attended by Rosales.
Sources did not reveal the amount the shipping group paid or set to pay to Terrafirma, but it is expected to be at around P100 million, the same figure reportedly shelled out by the likes of Converge (to Alaska in 2022), Phoenix (to Barako Bull in 2016) and NorthPort (to Coca-Cola in 2012) in recent franchise sales.
Starhorse burst unto the basketball scene when it became the main backer of the returning Basilan team for the upcoming Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) season.
Basilan’s roster is composed of some ex-PBA players bannered by 2013 Most Valuable Player Arwind Santos. Also on the Starhorse-supported MPBL team are Rabeh Al-Hussaini and Jervy Cruz.
Terrafirma, meanwhile, currently has veterans Stanley Pringle, Terrence Romeo, Aldrech Ramos and Kevin Ferrer plus youngsters Mark Nonoy, Louie Sangalang, Kemark Carino, Brent Paraiso, Paolo Hernandez and CJ Catapusan on its roster.
The Dyip also holds the rights of Christian Standhardinger, whose contract expired at the end of 2024. Terrafirma had a tender offer to Standhardinger, who is said to have retired, preventing the big man from becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Barring any moves, the said players and Standhardinger’s rights will be absorbed by Starhorse.
