Tuesday was the deadline for Forest City Enterprises, Bruce Ratner's parent company, to pay off its loans to Mikhail Prokhorov's ONEXIM Sports and Entertainment, its share of debt incurred over the past two seasons when the Nets lost an enormous amount of money.
If the deadline, twice delayed, passed without a payment, Ratner's share of the team would have dropped from 20 percent to eight. FCE decided to pay off the loans, believing its share of any sale would be a lot bigger than what was owed.
Mike Mazzeo reports Forest City agreed to make the payment, preserving its 20 percent ownership of the Nets .