Liberty Media, F1’s commercial giant, is nearing a groundbreaking deal to acquire MotoGP, hinting at a transformative shakeup in motorsports.
We first brought this to your attention a few weeks ago, but rumors that Liberty Media, the commercial owner of F1, is also purchasing its two-wheeled counterpart, MotoGP, are becoming increasingly concrete.
A month ago, MotoGP’s long-standing boss, Carmelo Ezpeleta, did not deny the takeover rumors, amid circulating reports that Dorna’s current owner, Bridgepoint, was in talks to sell the sport for several billion dollars.
“Dorna’s majority shareholders are investment funds, which buy things to sell them,” he had stated, after earlier admitting that a combined F1-MotoGP race weekend could also be in the works.
Today, the authoritative newspaper, the Financial Times, reports that the deal could be worth up to more than 4 billion dollars, with negotiations in recent weeks becoming “exclusive”.
Citing key sources, correspondents Matthew Garrahan and Samuel Agini claim that Liberty has outbid “a rival offer from TKO, the sports and entertainment group led by Hollywood heavyweight Ari Emanuel,” as well as another bid from Qatar.
However, one issue could be conflict of interest concerns. An antitrust lawyer told the FT that investigations into F1-MotoGP co-ownership would be “very likely”.
It is worth remembering that CVC had to sell its stake in MotoGP before buying F1 in 2006.
All parties involved, including Dorna and Liberty, have declined to comment officially.
“A deal is close,” the newspaper indicates, “but an announcement could be postponed until next week”.
Liberty Media Nears Historic MotoGP Purchase. Liberty Media Nears Historic MotoGP Purchase.
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