Paris Saint-Germain’s Qatari backers are joining forces with the owners of NFL franchise Miami Dolphins to purchase a controlling stake in Formula One, according to a report in The Financial Times.
Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) and RSE Ventures – a sports and entertainment firm co-founded by American entrepreneurs Stephen Ross and Matt Higgins – want to buy the 35.5 per cent of F1 owned by CVC Capital Partners, worth an estimated $8billion (Dh29bn).
F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone’s five per cent stake is also wanted but the 84-year-old is likely to remain an important figure in the sport due to his connections in Asia.
Ecclestone told The Financial Times: “My shares will be sold together with theirs.” The report claims the end goal of the partnership is to have 100 per cent ownership of F1 but for now they are just concentrating on CVC and Eccelstone’s stakes.
The Financial Times claims Qatar are keen on backing the takeover because F1 is an “obvious gap in the country’s sporting portfolio”.
Qatar are to said to be concentrating their efforts on F1 as part of a long-term desire to take the sport to the Gulf State. The Losail International Circuit in Doha has hosted the MotoGP since 2004 but F1 remains the marquee name.
On top of that Qatar owns 17% of Volkswagen. If you then owned F1 you might be keen to get your car company involved too…
— Adam Cooper (@adamcooperF1) June 23, 2015
CVC, who have controlled F1 for nearly 10 years, are yet to receive a bid while Ecclestone was quoted as saying he was not yet aware of a “deal on the table”, although an official approach is expected by the end of July.
QSI, part of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, launched a buyout of Paris Saint-Germain in 2012 and the club have gone on to dominate domestic football in France, winning three Ligue 1 titles. QSI have also funded more than $350m (Dh1.4bn) in transfer fees in an attempt to turn PSG into a giant of European football.
A real estate magnate by trade, 75-year-old Ross, whose wealth is estimated at $4.8bn, founded RSE Ventures in 2012 with former New York Jets vice president Higgins. Ross has also been in talks with David Beckham over the prospect of bringing an MLS team to the Florida city.
America has always been seen as the land of opportunity for F1 as the country has never fully embraced the sport ahead of the likes of Indy- Car and Nascar. The United States Grand Prix has been held in Austin, Texas, since 2012 at the Circuit of the Americas, the first track built especially for F1.
