Third-party investors will provide Liberty Media with $1.55 billion to help fund and support the purchase of a controlling stake in Formula One. The company will also be holding a meeting with its shareholders to discuss the acquisition of the sport and the renaming of the company on the January 17.
Liberty Media purchased a controlling stake of Formula One in September, although the transaction has not yet been completed. The deal is worth $8 billion for a 19.1 percent stake purchased from CVC Capital Partners.
In the recent weeks, Bernie Ecclestone has put doubt into the media about whether or not the deal would be completed as planned. However, the company has gained the support of various third party investors to help fund the transaction through the purchase of Liberty’s common stock, currently valued at $25 per share.
Liberty Media President and CEO, Greg Maffei, expressed the company’s excitement:
“We are excited that this impressive list of investors will participate in the acquisition of Formula 1. This group shares our enthusiasm for the sport and our belief in the opportunity to develop and grow it for the benefit of the fans, teams, sponsors and our shareholders. We look forward to closing the transaction in early 2017.”
The third-party investors include Coatue Management, the Shaw Group, JANA Partners, Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, Soroban Capital Partners, SPO Advisory, and Viking Global Investors.
The deal is scheduled to be completed early in 2017, provided that it gets clearance from the antitrust authorities. “This [support from third-party investors] is a significant step in Liberty Media’s transformative acquisition of Formula 1 and is further confirmation that the future of the sport is bright,” said Chase Carey, the newly appointed Chairman of Formula One.
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