Hoops Capital and Wollemi Capital Group announce investment in future of basketball

Pictured: Matthew, Robyn and Victoria Denholm from the Wollemi Capital Group have announced an investment in Hoops Capital. Picture: Sam Tolhurst.

Hoops Capital Pty Ltd, a multi-faceted basketball enterprise and owner of the Sydney Kings and the Sydney Flames, has announced an agreed investment by Wollemi Capital Group. 

The proposed investment by Wollemi Capital Group (WCG), the Denholm Family investment office, aims to build a long-term partnership with the shared goal of growing women’s and men’s basketball across the country. 

WCG was founded in 2021 with a mission to invest in businesses and ventures that deliver positive impacts for the communities in which we live and work. One of the key areas of focus for WCG is the positive impacts of sport. 

Under the proposed deal, former NBA champion and Kings great Andrew Bogut retains his existing stake in the company and three-time NBA champion and Australian basketball legend Luc Longley will continue to provide guidance and advice to the ownership group in his role as a special advisor. 

Chairman and majority owner of Hoops Capital Paul Smith said the agreement marked a major milestone for the growth of the company, its vision and the future of basketball in Sydney and Australia more broadly. 

“This an important milestone in the long-term planning and development of professional basketball in Sydney and Australia,” Mr Smith said. “The opportunity for Andrew Bogut and I to be joined by Wollemi Capital Group as we build a truly complete basketball business is something I am personally thrilled by."  

“We are delighted to have Robyn join us in her capacity as founder of the Wollemi Capital Group. With her corporate acumen and experience, she will be an asset to our board. She joins us alongside Matthew and Victoria who bring a clear passion for both men’s and women’s basketball in our ownership. I think this diversity will ensure we are in a great place to achieve something very meaningful over the next 20 years.” 

Ms Denholm reaffirmed this is a clear commitment by Wollemi Capital Group for the future betterment of the sport of basketball. 

“We are blown away by the vision and work that Paul Smith and the entire Hoops Capital organisation has done,” Wollemi Capital Group founder and director Ms Denholm said. 

“We are particularly impressed with the commitment to diversity shown by being the only organisation in Australia with both female and male basketball teams at the highest level. Wollemi Capital Group is excited to be creating a long-term partnership.” 

The partnership highlighted the opportunity currently facing basketball in this country, WCG’s Matthew Denholm said. “We see huge potential for the growth of basketball in NSW and indeed across the country.” 

“This is a whole of family passion, and we hope by becoming part of the Hoops Capital family we can advance basketball and grow the sport so that everyone can experience the unique joy of basketball across our community” Mr Denholm said.

Basketball is clearly the No. 1 growth sport nationally with so many markers that punctuate this rise. This includes the exploding popularity of the NBL, the upcoming 2022 FIBA Women's World Cup in Sydney, the performance of young Australians in the NCAA, NBA and WNBA and the continued passion for the NBA here in Australia.  

Hoops Capital is a business designed to capture the entire spectrum of basketball from the elite professional side to youth development via the recently established Hoops Capital Academy.