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Formula One in $1.3B sale
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October 26, 1999: 8:52 a.m. ET
Motor racing guru Ecclestone sells stake to Deutsche Bank-led group
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Motor racing entrepreneur Bernie Ecclestone agreed to sell part of his Formula One Holdings operation to Deutsche Bank Tuesday for $1.3 billion and revived plans to take the company public.
Deutsche Bank's Morgan Grenfell Private Equity arm agreed to take a 12.5 percent stake and plans to bring in other investors to lift their combined stake to 50 percent over the next few weeks.
Ecclestone has dominated the financial side of the sport since the mid-1970s, but his plans for a stock market listing for the company, which owns lucrative TV rights, have been surrounded by controversy.
He had planned to list Formula One Holdings (FOH) last year, but ran into problems when European regulators launched a probe into alleged anti-competitive practices in acquisition of TV contracts to cover the sport.
FOH issued a $1.4 billion bond earlier this year, backed by revenue from television fees for coverage of Formula One. The antitrust worries scared investors away from the issue, the bulk of which remains with underwriters WestLB and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.
Officials at the European Commission, the Brussels-based executive arm of the European Union, were forced to issue an embarrassing apology to Ecclestone and FIA -- the sport's governing body -- after details of their probe were leaked to the press.
FOH said at the time that all of its contracts were in line with existing antitrust rules
Ecclestone is the guiding force behind turning Formula One into a multi-billion dollar business, and he has ambitious plans to further leverage the huge global TV audience by using new digital technology to provide interactive viewing.
FOH executives said Tuesday they will revive the public sale plan in two to three years time.
Italian fashion company Benetton, which owns its own motor racing team, is reported to be among Morgan Grenfell's partners.
The Formula One season ends Sunday, with the championship still to be decided between Britain's Eddie Irvine and Finland's Mika Hakkinen. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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