Liberty Media on verge of launching £6.4bn bid for F1

Liberty Media, the American media company owned by US magnate John Malone, is about to launch a $8.5bn [£6.4bn] bid in order to take control of Formula One with a first of two tranches of payments expected this Tuesday, per multiple reports.

CVC Capital Partners have been at the helm of the sport for a decade but their willingness to sell their 34.6% controlling stake in F1's parent company Delta Topco has been well documented in recent months.

With CVC’s original investment reported at $2billion (£1.5bn), the private equity firm is thus set to reap profits in the region of £5bn from their 10-year tenure in F1.

Liberty has been linked with an F1 deal since 2014, though previous stories this year had the Qatar Investment Authority and RSE Ventures in pole position to acquire CVC’s shares.

Respected German-language publication Auto Motor und Sport reported over the Italian Grand Prix weekend that Liberty will make the first of two transfers on Tuesday. A story in Forbes added that it was “a done deal”.

However, Autosport has qualified these statements by claiming that CVC is still involved in talks with RSE, which would delay Liberty’s two-step takeover.

While RSE were said to be keen to keep F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone at the helm, it is yet unclear which position the 85-year-old, who owns a 5.3% stake in the sport, would take up with Liberty as the new owners.

“I will do what I have always done,” Ecclestone was quoted as saying at Monza by Auto Motor und Sport. “What role I play is my decision.”

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