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Ecclestone overseeing sale of F1 to US firm Liberty Media

Posted: Sep. 7, 2016 7:00 am Updated: Sep.

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The boss of Formula One has confirmed that he will remain in the business after the sale to Liberty Media.

It has emerged that the potential new commercial rights holder for the sport has asked Ecclestone to stay on and oversee a transition period for three years, but Ecclestone, speaking with Reuters news agency, was careful to not lay all his cards on the table.

However, 85-year-old Ecclestone, who is now F1’s CEO, says he will be kept on by the new owners.

“They want me to be here for three years”, said Ecclestone.

“Because all this is going through, they [CVC] want me to be there [in London] to help them with all sorts of things”.

“They have asked me to hang on and not go to Singapore”, Ecclestone said by telephone.

“He (Carey) can do lots of things that I haven’t done with this social media, which he seems to be in touch with”. “They have dealings with a lot of sponsors due to their TV networks and social media which we haven’t done (as much) in the past”.

The first instalment in the billion-dollar deal is expected to arrive on Wednesday, with Malone said to be keen to put Chase Carey, a 21st Century Fox executive, in a key role.

The sport returned to the U.S.in 2012 after a five year absence, with Austin hosting the race under the current deals.

His family trust Bambino Holdings is said to be in line to get more than 489mln.

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CVC is F1’s biggest shareholder with a 35.5 percent stake, followed by US fund manager Waddell & Reed with just over 20 percent.

Formula One primed for takeover