Motor racing-Liberty Global takes controlling stake in Formula E (updated)

Liberty Media

13/06/2024 15:25

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      Liberty Global to take 65% stake in Formula E
    

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      Purchase of shares from Warner Bros. Discovery
    

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      Liberty Media already controls F1, taking over MotoGP 
    

  
 (Adds details)
    By Alan Baldwin
       LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) - Liberty Global is taking a
65% stake in the Formula E electric car racing world
championship after buying out Warner Bros Discovery, the series
announced on Thursday.
    The acquisition will, on completion, leave Liberty Global in
control of an FIA-sanctioned championship nearing the end of its
10th season. The telecoms company previously held around 35% of
the shares.
    No financial details were given.
    While Liberty Global will control Formula E, Liberty Media
is commercial rights holder for the much bigger and older
Formula One business. Both companies are chaired by U.S.
billionaire John Malone.    
    Liberty Media also announced in April a takeover of the
MotoGP motorcycle world championship, subject to anti-trust
clearance.
        Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries said the two companies
were different entities and he would be surprised if common
ownership by one individual created an issue.
  
        "This is a pivotal moment in Formula E," he told Reuters
on a video call.
  
        "Formula E needs capital and it needs conviction. We are
absolutely intending to provide both of those things at this
critical moment.
  
        "If you look at the trajectory of the series it's been
incredible, the performance of the cars, the quality of the
teams we have, the breadth of the calendar, the increase in
fans," he added.
  
        "All of these things are from our point of view
tailwinds, but you can't ride those tailwinds if you don't have
capital and conviction."
  
        Fries said Liberty Global intended to keep funding the
series until reaching break even, a point he saw as being not
far off. 
  
        Formula E on Wednesday announced a 17-race calendar
across 11 locations with double-headers in Shanghai, Tokyo,
Berlin, London, Monaco and Saudi Arabia. The series also claims
a viewership of almost 400 million globally. 
  
        Series CEO Jeff Dodds said the remaining 35% was owned
by a large number of small shareholders, including Saudi
Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) with around 5% and founder
Alejandro Agag.
  
        Dodds said Formula E was growing rapidly and could
eventually challenge Formula One's supremacy as the biggest
championship, a stance he said was more confidence in the
technology rather than just fighting talk.
  
        "The Gen 3 evo car that will hit the track from the end
of this year gets to 100kph about 30% faster than the current
Formula One car," he said. 
  
        "Two years after that car is released we'll go to Gen
4...that car will go for longer and be materially faster...Our
car performance in the very near future will be equivalent to
that of a Formula One car."
  
        At the same time, Formula E's cost cap of 13 million
euros per team compares to Formula One's $140 million.
  

 (Reporting by Alan Baldwin; editing by Jason Neely and Ed
Osmond)
 ((alan.baldwin@thomsonreuters.com; +442075427933;))