|
Formula One boss 'to exit'
|
 |
February 1, 2001: 12:42 p.m. ET
Report: British tycoon ready to sell grand prix stake to five car companies
|
LONDON (CNN) - Tycoon Bernie Ecclestone is reportedly close to calling it quits in Formula One, the grand prix racing circuit he helped build over 30 years.
The 70-year-old Briton is about to sell a piece of SLEC, the firm through which his family owns a 50 percent stake in Formula One, to five European automakers: Renault, BMW, Ferrari, Jaguar and Mercedes, London's The Times reported on Thursday.
"We want things to happen as soon as possible," Ecclestone told the newspaper. "These car companies have put an enormous investment into Formula One and they want to make sure their money and the sport is safe."
Guido Stalmann, a spokesperson with BMW in Munich, Germany, said those auto makers have held talks "about how to ensure the stability and success of Formula One in the future."
"And while I can't speak for the other automakers, I imagine that at least one board member of each company has spoken with Ecclestone about it on an informal basis," he added.
A spokeswoman for Daimler-Benz, the parent of Mercedes, said "we are interested in Formula One ... and there are talks going on."  Spokespeople for Renault and Jaguar declined to comment.
Separately, Germany's EM.TV & Merchandising, which controls the other 50 percent of SLEC, said on Thursday it is continuing to hold talks with media counterpart KirchGruppe toward a bailout. The two were unable to strike a pact before a deadline on those talks expired on Wednesday.
EM.TV needs a cash infusion. Because of an option Ecclestone holds, the German media group could be forced to buy from him another 25 percent in SLEC -- which is estimated to cost some $1 billion. That looming payout that has contributed to a plunge in EM.TV's shares over the last several months. They once had been a stellar Neuer Markt performer.
EM.TV shares (AETV) have also suffered due to a poor performance from Muppet Show maker, The Jim Henson Co., which it bought last year. On Thursday afternoon, the stock was up 0.4 percent at  7.9 – far below its 52-week high of more than 114 in February last year. 
In a memorandum of understanding inked last year, EM.TV agreed to hand over half its Formula One stake and a controlling minority stake in EM.TV itself in exchange for some $550 million in cash and rights to youth programs produced by Kirch.
The Times said Ecclestone and Paolo Cantarella, the chief executive of Ferrari's parent Fiat, had met to draw up terms of an agreement. Richard Gadeselli, a spokesman for Fiat, said he "cannot confirm or deny" whether those talks took place.
Spokespeople for both EM.TV and Ecclestone could not be immediately reached on Thursday.
Ecclestone took control of Formula One in the early 1970s and by the 1980s he had consolidated his power and dramatically raised spectator interest in the sport. Since then the sport has become one of the most popular in Europe, if not worldwide.
Formula One bosses had hoped originally for a market flotation, but uncertainty about European Union antitrust concerns over broadcasting rights red-flagged those plans. Just last week the commission and Formula One officials inked a settlement ending a five-year battle over broadcast rights.
As part of that arrangement, Ecclestone, who is CEO of Formula One Administration, will no longer handle promotional affairs of the Federation Internationale d'Automobile -- the sport's regulator. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
