CVC could sell F1 'in a matter of weeks'

CVC Capital Partners could sell its majority share in F1 "in a matter of weeks", according to a Bloomberg report.

According to the report, Goldman Sachs is actively seeking buyers for CVC's 35% stake. With CVC's original investment having been $2billion (£1.5bn) back in 2006, the report claims the sale could now be for as much as $10bn (£7.7bn).

Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Plc, the Qatar Investment Authority and RSE Ventures - chaired by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross - are again linked with a deal, following a report the latter two were in talks with CVC in June.

RSE are believed to be keen to keep 85-year-old Bernie Ecclestone involved should it complete a deal, with former Williams chairman Adam Parr saying such a move proved successful for CVC.

“CVC’s great strength has been to allow Bernie to get on with managing the company,” Parr told Bloomberg. “Even during the bribery trial, where there was a chance for a coup, nothing changed. They got out the way and have reaped the rewards.”

The report describes F1 as "a spectacularly profitable deal for CVC", saying it has made a 450% return on its original $1bn stake. CVC has sold off minority shareholdings to various investors over the past ten years, while it had to an abort an initial public offering on the Singapore stock exchange in 2012.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.