What, if anything, will Bernie own in F1 now?
"Stability," he said. "That's what the manufacturers want. This new company has been on the scene for a while. They're not people who buy shares just so that they can sell them again. They're stayers."
CVC, among its many activities, owns the Spanish company Dorna, which bought motorcycling's equivalent of formula one several years ago and turned it into MotoGP, with great success. A lot of people with an interest in formula one have jumped to the conclusion that CVC will use Dorna's expertise to rejuvenate the four-wheeled series. Ecclestone, however, was having none of it.
"I advised them on MotoGP," he pointed out. "And the two companies will be entirely separate."11/26/05 A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, Bernie, Bambino, and Formula One Management are stakeholders in Alpha Prema, a new company, NOT in CVC.
Alpha Prema now owns most (over 70%) of SLEC, but 100% of the voting rights in SLEC (the other two banks sold their voting rights).
CVC, not Alpha Prema, owns Dorna (MotoGP), so Bernie may have influence (i.e. schedule cooperation, joint TV package negotiation, etc.), but not control, of MotoGP.
Bernie may also have access to additional capital, but only to the extent CVC is willing to make further investments in Alpha Prema. That said, Bernie and CVC do share a common interest in the success of Alpha Prema, so effectively Bernie may have an increased war chest, and just as important, a powerful team of savvy venture capital managers going into battle with him. Larry Adcock, Muncie, IN
11/26/05 As we speculated below, it has been confirmed that Bernie Ecclestone as well as Bambino and another Ecclestone company, Formula One Management are now stakeholders in Alpha Prema, a CVC company. This means that Bernie Ecclestone now has influence in F1 and MotoGP through parent company CVC, for which he now has close ties and a close business relationship. More importantly he has CVC's vast financial resources behind him. Through the sale Bernie has increased his power and his wealth and the heads at Mercedes, BMW, Toyota, Honda and Renault are still spinning trying to figure it all out. Bernie is toying with them. To him power and control is all a game, a chess match if you will, and Bernie just yelled "check!"
11/25/05 There is considerable confusion about the deal that is currently going through involving the Formula One group and the venture capital company CVC Capital Partners. Although initial reports suggest that the Ecclestone Family shares have been sold to CVC, we are also hearing stories that the shares are remaining with Bernie and indeed that he may even have increased his shareholding a little. Until there is any official word however it is difficult to know the exact status of the deal. Given CVC's previous record the company will be keen to make an announcement as soon as the deal goes through.
It is believed that the man behind the new deal is American Hardy McLain, who was one of the founders of CVC, having previously worked for Citibank. He has been based in London for the last 20 years and has played an important role in the Dorna investment [in MotoGP]. Grandprix.com
[Editor's Note: While many are confused by the sale of F1, we're not. Now CVC has control of both MotoGP and F1, two of the hottest properties in sports. Bernie is always 5 steps ahead of everyone else, and he was again on this deal. By having both MotoGP and F1, CVC can negotiate better, combined, TV deals and offer TV stations racing every weekend, alternating between MotoGP and F1. MotoGP star Valentino Rossi's rumored move to F1 now becomes clearer as his publicity will bring wider attention to both MotoGP and F1. Just where Bernie fits in remains to be seen. For all we know, perhaps, as a result of this deal, now he is a partner in CVC and has a stake in both F1 and MotoGP. Nothing with Bernie would surprise us, and like we said, collectively the manufacturers trying to start a breakaway F1 series collectively don't have the wherewithal to outsmart or outmaneuver one Bernard Ecclestone]