[shyn]

That's right, you read the title, Formula 1 could be sold to a new owner by the end of this very year! The news comes straight from the horse's mouth.
But he will still be running the show despite the change of ownership. So don't expect any major changes at all.

Excerpts from espnf1-
"Formula One could be sold this year to one of three interested parties, according to the sport's chief Bernie Ecclestone.
Ecclestone has a 5.3 percent stake in F1, while investment fund CVC Capital Partners owns a controlling 35.5 percent. Earlier this year it was reported there was interest from Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who has been working with investors from Qatar, in buying CVC's share to take control of F1.

Though he did not speak directly about Ross' bid, Ecclestone believes a sale could be imminent.

"Our shareholders at the moment are in such a position at the moment where they have to lose some of their shares, or all of them, shortly," Ecclestone said at the Camp Beckenbauer sports business forum. "That's the way things are set up for them.

"There has been a lot of interest. I would say there are three, at the moment, parties that ... I'd be surprised if one of them doesn't buy it shortly."

Pressed on when he expects to see new owners, he added: "This year."

He also told the sports business forum he would stay on as commercial chief with new owners.

In June Ecclestone confirmed to the Financial Times talks were ongoing but that the investment fund would only sell if the price was right. The newspaper's original report said Ross and his Qatari fund was lining up a bid of $7-8 billion."
Source: http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/...nie-ecclestone

[GTO]

Not too surprising when you consider this:

while investment fund CVC Capital Partners owns a controlling 35.5 percent.

Investment funds are only looking at returns - how to convert a $1 million investment to $5 million...$10 million. Most of them only buy into a company to flip it eventually.

Smart move from CVC Capital. F1 is in the doldrums right now - declining viewership, boring races & self-destructive rule changes. Better to exit now than wait for it to tank even lower. I say this as someone who's been watching F1 since the 90's.

Check this out:

CVC is a relative newcomer to the race, having bought its stake in 2006 in a leveraged buyout funded with two loans – $965.6m from its Investment Fund IV and $1.1bn from RBS.

Over the past decade CVC has halved its stake to 35% and reaped a $4.4bn reward. That has given it a return on investment (ROI) of 351.8% and its remaining 35% stake controls the voting rights of F1’s Jersey-based parent company, Delta Topco. This gives the stake a valuation of up to $8bn – and if CVC achieves that price, it will push ROI to over 1,000%, making it the most profitable deal in the investment house’s 34-year history.

Source

[Chetan_Rao]

The biggest lesson that Bernie refuses to learn from, is how F1 is alienating its traditional European base. Some classic races are already gone, some are under constant threat while Bernie is busy making a quick buck by selling events to the highest bidder further and further away from the traditional fan-base, to places where governments have to hoard in schoolchildren to hide empty grandstands on race-day. India was just ONE of his experiments that made him a bunch but tanked the F1 brand even further long-term.

I don't blame Bernie in entirety, he did what's best for HIS employer. I blame the FIA for leasing out F1 rights in the first place. F1 won't get anywhere until it gets a promoter that cares for the sport over and above the $$$ it brings in. Names don't matter, intent does.

Fernando Alonso's comment at Suzuka was triggered by his frustrations with Honda, but his comments ring true in a broader sense too. F1 is nothing more than glorified GP2 today, not even as exciting and most competitors in financial trouble one way or another. Can't blame a money-minded VC firm to bail out if they choose to. Their investment has peaked and can only go downhill from here.

[polopm]

Who knows, it might be RedBull buying the entire F1 circus !

If it is sold, it will be to another huge VC fund with a even bigger appetite for moolah. You might get some of the new age stuff like mobile HD streaming and more inside access.

A prudent change which can be brought about (by the FIA and not by Mr.E) are the rules related to engine development and change. That is something which Mr.Todt is mum / stubborn. When you have two major engine makers struggling, you need to take a stance and not wait for everyone to have a consensus. By the way things are you need to be first time right and at the cutting edge of technology, it's quite difficult.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by polopm

Who knows, it might be RedBull buying the entire F1 circus !

No chance. Red Bull is neither an investment fund nor a bank. They'd prefer to send their billions on the beverage industry.

If it is sold, it will be to another huge VC fund with a even bigger appetite for moolah.

Whoever comes in, I just hope they see the irony in the current rules & systems and change F1 for the better. Clearly, as we've seen in the last 10 years, F1 cannot be left to the whims & fancies of a small group of men past their prime.

[polopm]

Originally Posted by GTO

No chance. Red Bull is neither an investment fund nor a bank. They'd prefer to send their billions on the beverage industry.



Whoever comes in, I just hope they see the irony in the current rules & systems and change F1 for the better. Clearly, as we've seen in the last 10 years, F1 cannot be left to the whims & fancies of a small group of men past their prime.

Point taken. Their biggest success would be the "persuade" the FIA to change the rules. After all, they have had certain rules made on the engines which have been counter-productive for all except Mercedes and now Ferrari.
At the end of the day, it is the FIA which decides the technical rules. Max Mosley and Bernie got along fabulously well and could muscle their way thru. Bernie has openly professed his fondness for dictatorship. Max was one. You can ask Ron Dennis on how he felt being at the receiving end.

The hybrid technology is great, the cars are getting faster. The sound is gone though. We can claw back somehow not fully. It is like the Yamaha Rx purist folks crying when they saw the 4 stroke rule coming. There was no choice you had to stick to 4 Strokes whether you like it or not.
What matters is sensible compromises being made. Ones which will help others to get back into the race.
That alone will lure back the other engine greats like BMW and also the other bigger teams like Toyota and new entrants like VW-Audi.

[VW2010]

May be some american buys this and makes it what F1 was all about. The new age cars, their lack of punch and the conservative driving required makes it a boring sport.

Bring on the change similar to Moto GP where you have two classes with advantage provided to chasers to make it more competetive.

High time F1 goes through some real changes.

[shyn]

Sad news guys!
Seems like neither Bernie nor CVC are willing to sell their shares. There goes our one hope of new owners breathing new life into F1!
Source: http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/cv...ke-ecclestone/

[D33-PAC]

How's did F1's valuation increase from 2006 to 2015. The series actually got BORING and unexciting and boring during the 4 year reign of red bull. Does the F1 machine have a balance sheet and income statement like all balances and do numbers support an increased valuation or are they public and its based on the stock price ?

[volkman10]

Formula One takeover by Liberty Media confirmed in $8 billion deal.

Incoming Formula 1 Group chairman Chase Carey believes that Liberty Media’s $8billion purchase of the sport will spell growth and development for the benefit of teams and fans alike.

Liberty Media, which owns interests in a range of media, communications and entertainment businesses, has agreed to buy the stake in F1 owned by private equity company CVC Capital Partners, the current majority shareholder. The overall value of the deal is put at about £6bn, although this includes various debt and cash reserves.

Liberty Media will acquire 100% of the shares of Delta Topco, the parent company of Formula One, and has purchased 18.7% of Formula One itself, the latter costing about £560m and paid for in cash.

The acquisition is expected to be completed in the sprint of 2017 and is dependent on certain conditions being met, such as the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the governing body of Formula One, approving the deal.

Speaking following the announcement that the US media giant will buy 100 per cent of Delta Topco (the parent company of F1) before the end of the first quarter of 2017, Carey said that he plans to take the sport “to the next level”.
Carey, who helped launch the US Fox Sports TV channel when he was CEO of Fox in 1994, has most recently been executive vice-chairman of 21st Century Fox.

He will take the chairman role at Formula One Group, working alongside CEO Bernie Ecclestone.

Source

[sgiitk]

I may be sounding a bit nasty: Keep F1 and sell of Bernie. I think we have had more than enough of his tempestuous behavior. The only decent thing he has done of late is to find the Baku circuit. He has make F1 more of a circus. Despite the silly Ostrich like behavior of the GoI not accepting Motorsport as a sport, why was the Indian F1 dumped, still beats me.

[adg_andy]

Excerpt from Autosport:

Liberty Media will acquire 100% of the shares of Delta Topco, the parent company of F1, and concurrent to that it has completed the acquisition of an 18.7% minority stake for $746million (£559m).

Prior to completion of that deal, due to be concluded in the first quarter of 2017, CVC Funds will continue to be the controlling shareholder of Formula 1.

Upon completion of the deal next year, Liberty Media will become the majority shareholder with a 35.5% stake, with CVC still retaining a 24.7% share after selling off a 13.4% interest.

The statement added: "After completion of the acquisition, Liberty Media will own Formula 1 and it will be attributed to the Liberty Media Group which will be renamed the Formula One Group.

"The consortium of sellers led by CVC will own approximately 65% of the Formula One Group's equity and will have board representation at Formula 1 to support Liberty Media in continuing to develop the full potential of the sport.

"In addition, a CVC representative will be joining the Liberty Media board of directors.

"Chase Carey has been appointed by Delta Topco and will serve as the new chairman of Formula 1, succeeding Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, who will remain on Formula 1's board as a non-executive director.

"Bernie Ecclestone will remain Formula 1's CEO."

The statement also confirmed "the transaction price represents an enterprise value for Formula 1 of $8.0billion and an equity value of $4.4 billion".

Ecclestone said: "I would like to welcome Liberty Media and Chase Carey to Formula 1 and I look forward to working with them."

Liberty Media president and CEO Greg Maffei added: "We are excited to become part of Formula 1.

"We think our long-term perspective and expertise with media and sports assets will allow us to be good stewards of Formula 1 and benefit fans, teams and our shareholders.

"We look forward to working closely with Chase Carey and Bernie Ecclestone to support the next phase of growth for this hugely popular global sport."

Carey is currently the executive vice chairman of 21st Century Fox.

"I am thrilled to take up the role of chairman of Formula 1 and have the opportunity to work alongside Bernie Ecclestone, CVC, and the Liberty Media team," he said.

"I greatly admire Formula 1 as a unique global sports entertainment franchise attracting hundreds of millions of fans each season from all around the world.

"I see great opportunity to help Formula 1 continue to develop and prosper for the benefit of the sport, fans, teams and investors alike."

Donald Mackenzie, co-chairman of CVC, feels Ecclestone and Carey will form a formidable partnership.

"We are delighted Chase is joining Formula 1 as its new chairman and that he will be working alongside Bernie," Mackenzie said.

"Chase's experience and knowledge of sport, media and entertainment is as good as it gets and we are very pleased to secure his services.

"Bernie has been a wonderful CEO for us over the last 10 years. There have been many successes and the occasional challenge, but there has never been a dull moment and we have had a lot of fun.

"The combined skills of Chase and Bernie mean the successes should continue and we wish them well."

Interesting Development

A Liberty Media statement on the takeover read: "The teams will be given the opportunity to participate in the investment in Formula 1, and the detailed terms of that investment will be agreed in due course.

"Certain teams have already expressed an interest in investing after completion of the acquisition."

[dZired]

Liberty Media completes F1 takeover, Ecclestone replaced

Liberty Media Corporation has officially announced complete acquisition of Formula 1. The company has also replaced F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone with Chase Carey, who will now be designated as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the motorsports business. Meanwhile, Ecclestone has moved to an honorary position of Chairman Emeritus of F1.

Ecclestone, 86, was widely referred to as the driving force behind the transformation of Formula 1 into a multi-billion dollar business. When Colorado-based Liberty Media announced its scheduled acquisition of the sport last year, it was reported that Ecclestone will be continuing in his role. However, the new owners have now decided to bring in Chase Carey into the leading position.

Ecclestone has been at the helm of Formula 1 from the past 39 years. He is thus considered responsible for the commercialization of the sport, as well as enhancing its popularity within fans. Meanwhile, the new boss, Chase Carey, is the vice chairman of the 21st Century Fox media conglomerate. He is considered to be an expert in expansive sport-media growth and exploitation of sports rights.

Link to Team-BHP News