According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Alex Meruelo and the Atlanta Hawks have signed a contract for Meruelo to obtain a majority stake in the NBA team.

Based on information given to the paper by Meruelo, a 48-year-old businessman from Los Angeles, the contract allows Meruelo to take over the operating rights to Philips Arena. The report also said that the sale is set to be announced tomorrow.

The newspaper said that Meruelo owns a casino, a TV station, several construction organizations, and several pizzerias.

Meruelo indicated that a few members of Atlanta Spirit LLC, which currently owns the Atlanta Hawks, will keep their minority stakes in the team.

The NHL team, the Atlanta Thrashers, and the Hawks were purchased by the Spirit Group, along with Philips Arena in 2004. The company paid $250 million to Time Warner Inc. at that time. The Spirit Group sold the Thrashers to a company that relocated the club to Winnipeg in May. The new name of the team is the Jets.

Arthur Triche, a spokesman for the hawks, did not respond to a request for a comment on the sale. A Meruelo Group spokesman, Ruben Gonzalez, also did not respond to a request for a comment.