F1 owners Liberty Media ‘on verge of £3.5bn deal for MotoGP’
F1 owners Liberty Media are reportedly closing in on a £3.5bn (€4bn) deal to buy Dorna Sports – the company which owns the motorcycle world championship series MotoGP.
American sports conglomerate Liberty have, according to the Financial Times, seen off rival bids from William Morris Endeavor – the agency which owns the UFC – and sport and entertainment group TKO.
Qatar Sports Investments, the state group that owns Paris Saint-Germain, also held talks with Dorna’s owner Bridgepoint, the private equity firm, but look to have missed out.
As well as MotoGP, Madrid-based Dorna Sports promotes the superbike world championship and electric biking series MotoE.
Liberty took over F1 from private equity firm CVC Capital in an $8bn deal seven years ago, in a deal which saw the end of Bernie Ecclestone’s 40-year reign over the sport.
The FT added that an agreement between Liberty and Dorna is close, with an announcement potentially as early as next week, in what would represent a historic deal with the world’s premier car and motorcycle series’ under one umbrella.
However, any deal would be subject to scrutinous regulatory checks.
Liberty, led by chief executive Greg Maffei and chairman John C. Malone, have grown Formula 1 to mesmeric levels worldwide, as illustrated by a record 24-race season this year.
This expansion includes three races in the United States, with Las Vegas and Miami joining Austin in hosting a race, with the sport’s huge surge in popularity stateside largely a result of the popular docu-series Drive to Survive on Netflix.
F1’s operating profit increased by 64% to $392million in 2023 from 12 months earlier, as revenues surged to $3.2bn – an increase of $700m.
