(Bloomberg) -- Michael Bloomberg has agreed to team up with Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore in their bid to buy the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, according to people familiar with the deal who asked not to be named because it’s private.

A spokesman for Bloomberg declined to comment, as did a representative for Lore and Rodriguez. The news was first reported by the The Athletic.

The size of Bloomberg’s potential investment wasn’t clear.

Lore, founder of the e-commerce startups Diapers.com and Jet.com, and Rodriguez, the former MLB All-Star, are in a dispute for control of the franchise with current owner Glen Taylor. The pair agreed to buy the team and its WNBA counterpart the Lynx from Taylor in 2021 for $1.5 billion through an installment plan over four years.

Lore and Rodriguez have already acquired about 40% of the team, but before they could complete the next installment in March and gain control of the team, Taylor said that their purchase option had expired. The two sides went before an arbitrator last month, as stipulated in the purchase agreement, but failed to reach a settlement. The dispute is now headed to a panel of arbitrators.

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