Liberty Media agrees to purchase F1

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Liberty Media has agreed to purchase Formula One from CVC Capital Partners in a deal which values the sport at $8bn (£6bn).

A statement from the group on Wednesday evening read "Liberty Media has agreed to acquire Formula One, the iconic global motorsports business, from a consortium of sellers led by CVC."

Liberty Media has purchased an 18.7% minority stake in Formula One for $746 million, and will go on to acquire 100% of the shares of Delta Topco, the parent company of Formula One.

"After completion of the acquisition, Liberty Media will own Formula One and it will be attributed to the Liberty Media Group which will be renamed the Formula One Group," the Liberty Media statement read.

"The consortium of sellers led by CVC will own approximately 65% of the Formula One Group's equity and will have board representation at Formula One to support Liberty Media in continuing to develop the full potential of the sport. In addition, a CVC representative will be joining the Liberty Media Board of Directors."

As Bernie Ecclestone confirmed earlier on Wednesday, he will remain Formula One's CEO. Chase Carey has been named as the new Chairman of Formula One, succeeding Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, who will remain on Formula One's board as a non-executive director.

"I would like to welcome Liberty Media and Chase Carey to Formula One and I look forward to working with them," Ecclestone said.

Greg Maffei, President and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Media, says the new owners are focused on bringing long-term stability to the sport.

"We are excited to become part of Formula One," Maffei said. "We think our long-term perspective and expertise with media and sports assets will allow us to be good stewards of Formula One and benefit fans, teams and our shareholders. We look forward to working closely with Chase Carey and Bernie Ecclestone to support the next phase of growth for this hugely popular global sport."

Chase Carey, the new Chairman of Formula One, says he is looking forward to working alongside Ecclestone in his new role.

"I am thrilled to take up the role of Chairman of Formula One and have the opportunity to work alongside Bernie Ecclestone, CVC, and the Liberty Media team," Carey said. "I greatly admire Formula One as a unique global sports entertainment franchise attracting hundreds of millions of fans each season from all around the world.

"I see great opportunity to help Formula One continue to develop and prosper for the benefit of the sport, fans, teams and investors alike."

The deal is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2017, but is subject to certain condition including "the receipt of certain clearances and approvals by antitrust and competition law authorities in various countries ... [and] certain third-party consents and approvals, including that of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body of Formula One."

The FIA holds a 1% stake in the sport at present.

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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.