At least one group bidding on the Atlanta Hawks is prepared to pay in excess of $900 million for the franchise.

Mark Rachesky, chairman of Lionsgate Entertainment, has emerged as the most recent bidder for the Hawks.

Rachesky is not known to have previously expressed interest in purchasing a sports franchise, but he is regarded as a protégé of activist investor Carl Icahn.

Groups and individuals interested in the buying the Hawks, as well as the team's current ownership, were required to signed nondisclosure agreements which prevent them from commenting on the sale process.‎

The Hawks were valued in 2014 by Forbes at $425 million, but that figure was circulated before Steve Ballmer's purchase of the Clippers for a staggering $2 billion in a bidding process.