A Saudi Digs the Jazz in Utah

Adnan Khashoggi, 48, the jet-about Saudi Arms merchant and investor, along with his brother Essam, last week agreed to pay $8 million for a half-interest in the Utah Jazz basketball team. The Jazz deal caps a string of Khashoggi investments in Salt Lake City. The state's conservative political and social environment appeals to the Khashoggi family, which during the past decade has pumped $77 million into an array of Salt Lake City development projects, including a $600 million downtown office complex called Triad Center.

The basketball agreement calls for Khashoggi to pay $6 million to cover the outstanding debts of the ten-year-old Jazz franchise, which moved from New Orleans to Salt Lake City in 1979, and $2 million to defray operating costs. After dismal performances in earlier years, the Jazz this past season had its best record ever (45-37), won the Midwest division, and made it to the Western division : semifinals before being defeated by Phoenix. That marked the club's first appearance in a postseason playoff. Last week Jazz officials foresaw no difficulty in obtaining approval for the sale from the N.B.A.'s board of governors.