Mat Ishbia agrees to purchase Phoenix Suns and Mercury in record $4bn sale

• Ishibia, 42, set to buy NBA and WNBA clubs from Robert Sarver
• Sale will represent largest purchase of team in NBA history

Mortgage executive Mat Ishbia has agreed in principle to buy a majority stake of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury from the embattled owner Robert Sarver for $4bn, the sides announced Tuesday.

The sale is expected to take several weeks to complete. Ishbia - who is chairman, president and chief executive of United Wholesale Mortgage, which bills itself as the nation's largest mortgage lender - will be subjected to a vetting process by the NBA, and once that is complete, the league's board of governors will have to approve the sale.