CHARLOTTE, NC -- An influential group of local Charlotte investors has joined majority owner Robert L. Johnson as minority partners in Bobcats Basketball Holdings, LLC, the ownership group of the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association and the Charlotte Sting of the Women's National Basketball Association the team announced Monday.

"This is an important group of civic and business leaders with a unique understanding of the Charlotte community," Johnson said.

"For our new partners this is more than just an investment in the Bobcats organization, it's a commitment to the entire Charlotte region. With a wide-range of experience and unique insight into the local business community and area fans, these investors are vital members of our organizational team and instrumental in the on-going development of both the Charlotte Bobcats and the Charlotte Sting franchises," he added.

Investor principles include: Bank of America Corporation and Wachovia Corporation, two of the nation's leading financial institutions and both headquartered in Charlotte; Skipper Beck, partner in Beck Automotive Group; North Carolina native M. L. Carr, former NBA player/executive and past president of the WNBA's Charlotte Sting, who will also serve in an official capacity as consultant to the Bobcats organization; Howard Levine, Chairman & CEO of Matthews, N.C.-based Family Dollar Stores, which was founded in Charlotte in 1959; Hugh McColl, Jr., chairman of McColl Partners and former CEO of Bank of America; Felix Sabates, owner of NASCAR Winston Cup racing teams and the Charlotte Checkers minor league hockey club, and chairman of Trinity Yachts, the largest yacht builder in America; Nelson Schwab III, co-founder of Carousel Capital; Anderson Warlick, CEO of Parkdale Mills, Gaston County's leading textile manufacturer; Ed Weisiger, Jr., President/CEO of Carolina Tractor and chairman of the Charlotte Chamber; and Professional Sports Investment Group led by managing partners Rev. Claude Alexander of University Park Baptist Church and Dr. Spurgeon Webber III, owner of a prominent local dental practice (pending final NBA administrative approval).