Sparks bought by investment group led by Magic Johnson and Mark Walter

Candace Parker averaged 17.9 points with 8.7 rebounds per game for the Sparks last season. The Sparks will reportedly be purchased by a group of investors including Magic Johnson and other members of the Dodgers owners. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times / )

The Sparks have been sold to an investment group led by Lakers legend Magic Johnson and Mark Walter, chief executive officer of Guggenheim Partners, a Chicago-based financial services company.

A similar group paid $2.15 billion for the Dodgers -- a record for a sports franchise -- in March 2012.

Todd Boehly, another member of Guggenheim's Dodgers ownership, is also in on the Sparks purchase, but the basketball team's ownership is not expected to be exactly the same as the Dodgers.

The Sparks purchase is not the first effort by Walter and Boehly to expand the Guggenheim sports holdings beyond baseball. The Guggenheim executives have acknowledged talks with the NFL about a potential football stadium in the Dodger Stadium parking lot. Guggenheim also was one of the bidders for AEG Live, which Phil Anschutz put up for sale in 2012 and then took off the market last March. The AEG live portfolio includes all or part of the Kings, Lakers, Galaxy, Staples Center and StubHub Center.

The WNBA had no comment about the Sparks purchase, which was confirmed to the Los Angeles Times by a person with knowledge of the situation. That person did not wish to be identified because the sale had not been officially announced.

The WNBA and an L.A.-based public relations firm both sent out news releases about a 'major announcement' coming Wednesday morning involving Magic Johnson and the WNBA.

The WNBA has been seeking new ownership for the Sparks since the team's chairwoman, Paula Madison, told the league in December that her family-owned company could no longer afford to invest in the team.

Madison said that since her family firm, Williams Group Holdings, began investing in the Sparks in 2007, the company had lost nearly $12 million on the team and was projected to lose more than $1 million in the 2014 season.

WNBA president Laurel Richie said in January that several parties had expressed interest in taking over the Sparks. The Golden State Warriors' ownership group later acknowledged that they were in talks with the league about potentially moving the team to the Bay Area.

The Sparks have been in Los Angeles since the league's inception in 1997.

The Sparks are one of six privately owned teams in the WNBA; the other six teams are owned by the NBA. The late Lakers owner Jerry Buss sold the Sparks for $10 million in 2006 to an investment group led by Kathy Goodman, a former film executive, and attorney Carla Christofferson. Williams Group Holdings became the primary investor in the team the following year.

The Sparks have won two WNBA championships over their 17-year history, in 2001 and 2002.

Staff writer Bill Shaikin contributed to this report. ALSO: Timothy Bradley seeks convincing win over Manny Pacquiao Sochi Olympics officials say stray dogs being relocated, not killed Broncos or 49ers: Which was the second-best team in the NFL? [Poll]