It has been reported that Liberty Media would be willing to give Formula One teams the chance to purchase shares in the sport, allowing the teams to benefit from the sport’s success. The teams have until the end of January to decide whether or not to accept the offer.
Liberty Media is prepared to offer 20% of the shares currently owner by CVC Capital Partners at a reported value of $22 per share. To prevent a conflict of interest, the shareholding teams would share in profits generated by the sport, but will have no voting right when it comes to business decisions, so as to prevent the competition from being impacted. Teams will only be able to purchase up to 5%, in order to prevent big-budget teams from gobbling up the shares.
Naturally, the smaller teams that are lacking capital will likely not have the funds available to take advantage of this opportunity, but the top teams will. However the valuation of the sport has decreased nearly £300m since Liberty Media’s takeover.
The Liberty Media deal has not been fully completed yet, with the shareholders set to vote on the takeover on January 17. The deal has not even been formally approved yet by the European Union Commission. The ruling to decide whether or not the new takeover complies with European competition guidelines is not scheduled until March.
Liberty Media Gains Third-Party Investor Support
Liberty Media Acquires F1 Stake
