Liberty Media could take a minority stake in the company that controls Formula One motor racing. The company controlled by John Malone is in detailed talks with F1’s controlling shareholder, CVC Capital Partners, about a transaction, according to the United Kingdom broadcaster’s sources.
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A frenetic period for the ownership and management of F1 could also involve Chase Carey, a former DirecTV and News Corporation executive, being appointed as chairman of the sport’s parent company prior to or alongside a deal, according to people close to the situation. Carey is now a director of Sky and 21st Century Fox.
On Thursday, August 18th, John C. Malone sold 121,100 shares of Liberty Media Corp. stock.
The company would then be absorbed in to the parent Liberty Media Group – which is listed.
According to Sky News, which first reported the story, if the deal goes ahead as planned, F1 will also become a listed company on the Nasdaq exchange in NY.
Liberty Global is partnering with Discovery Communications in its quest to gain a stake in F1, an entity valued at roughly $8.5 billion, but Liberty Media is said to be further along in its negotiations with F1. Also, Sky plc could be interested in investing.
U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake, which has a holding in Chinese retail giant Alibaba, entered talks with CVC for a stake back in May.
Other hedge funds and institutional investors recently bought and sold shares of the company.
Ecclestone suggested previous year that a deal was close for F1 to get new owners, before later suggesting that CVC was not so keen to exit.
Mr Malone has long-coveted owning a stake in F1, holding talks about a deal in 2014. Wunderlich dropped their price objective on shares of Liberty Media Corp. from $49.00 to $22.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 31st. Its principal businesses and assets include its consolidated subsidiaries Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRIUS XM) and the Braves Holdings, LLC (Braves Holdings), and its equity affiliate Live Nation Entertainment, Inc (Live Nation).
The investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, and the law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, are quietly working on the Liberty Media Corp-F1 deal.
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Meanwhile, Baker Botts is acting for Liberty Media for the second time this year after a team lead by Michael Calhoon acted on a lawsuit between Liberty and media company Vivendi Universal.
