Liberty said it would keep Ecclestone, who built Formula One into a global operation over almost four decades, as chief executive, but also named 21st Century Fox vice chairman Chase Carey as the company’s new chairman. Carey is now the Executive Vice Chairman of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox.
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Liberty will, however, get 100 percent of shares from Delta Topco, Formula One’s Parent company. Much is expected of the new owners, with considerable emphasis on pushing the sport into new media and targeting new audiences.
It’s been announced that Liberty Media, the world’s largest cable operator, is to acquire a near majority stake in Formula 1, the motor racing organisation founded and run by Bernie Ecclestone.
Sky’s City Editor Mark Kleinman said: “The overall deal may not be complete for a few months, but there’s no doubt that this is a very significant moment for Formula One”.
An American billionaire has taken the wheel at Formula 1.
The deal will happen in two stages with Liberty initially buying 18 percent of shares with the remainder to follow at a later date. Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) has 22.5 million video subscribers.
The Colorado-based company also holds a 27 per cent stake in Charter Communications, a 53 per cent stake in Sirius XM Radio, and a 26 per cent stake in Live Nation Entertainment Company. “There’s interest in this sport around the world”, Carey said in a conference call, according to Bloomberg.
It also earns millions from Formula One-branded merchandise.
Liberty Media will hope to build on these strengths, helping the sport gain new fans, especially in the Americas, and to capitalise on new opportunities around marketing, promotion, digital rights and social media. Formula One’s schedule of 21 races is spread across 21 different countries on five continents.
At that point, the Liberty Media Group will be renamed the Formula One Group. “I have never found a way to make money from that”.
He added, “There’s a reason [for making the deal], but I tend to doubt it’s related to a material increase in value in the U.S”.
It will effectively buy the sport for more than £3bn but incur a further £3bn in debt when the rest of the deal is finalised in the first quarter of next year.
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As NPR’s Yuki Noguchi tells our Newscast unit, the US cable giant “has been on a buying spree, and this acquisition bolsters its sports offerings”.
