BREAKING NEWS: Formula One has been Sold for £6bn

  • Published on 08 Sep 2016 00:52
  • 2
  • By: Harry Shovelar

Breaking News is that Formula One has officially been sold to US Firm Liberty Media, in  £6bn buyout of CVC's Stake.

CVC bought a 35.5% share in the sport back in 2005 and after 11 successful years, ownership will now be in the hands of Liberty Media. Commercial Rights Holder: Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed the sale through a released statement:

"I would like to welcome Liberty Media and Chase Carey to Formula One and I look forward to working with them."

A frenetic period for the ownership and management of F1 will also involve Chase Carey, a former DirecTV and News Corporation executive. 

Mr Carey, who continues to serve on the board of Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox and is also a director of Sky plc, the owner of Sky News, has been made chairman.

He said: "I greatly admire Formula One 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 One continue to develop and prosper for the benefit of the sport, fans, teams and investors alike."

Ecclestone is set to profit from the takeover, earning him a reported £300m. Most importantly though, he will remain in full operational control of the sport, with the view to step down within the next 3-5 years. The person who will replace the Briton, will more than likely be Chase Carey, who tonight has now become the new Formula One Chairman.

Ecclestone will still conduct the day-to-day running, meaning he will carry on negotiating circuit deals and television rights. Obviously he will still have a vote and a profound influence in what the direction the sport will take.

The deal itself will be completed in two parts:

The first tranche would involve the acquisition of an 18.7% stake of F1 and would not be subject to regulatory conditions.

The remainder of the deal would see Liberty Media Corp acquiring the remaining 81.3% of the company, which would be subject to the approval of certain regulators as well as the FIA, world motorsport's governing body.

Full analysis and what this means, will be published on F1Today Shortly

Written by Harry Shovelar

Replies (2)

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  • Will be interesting to see what implications this has for F1.

    • + 0
    • Sep 8 2016 - 12:31
    • I don't think much will change, there will be more of an emphasis on Social Media and we might see more North American Races

      • + 0
      • Sep 8 2016 - 14:01

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