Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp is bidding to take a stake in F1, according to the company’s UK TV subsidiary, Sky News.
The broadcaster’s city editor Mark Kleinman gave some details of the bid this evening, saying that the company wanted to form a consortium, and that Carlos Slim of Telmex has been approached about joining, along with “people connected to at least one of F1’s big car manufacturers.”
Kleinman said that it may decide not to attempt to acquire a direct stake in F1’s owner but instead bid for the broadcast rights and that in any case discussions were at an early stage.
Speed (USA) and Fox Sports (Latin America) already have F1 deals.
Kleinman also said: “CVC has said repeatedly it has no firm plans to sell F1, but of course private equity firms always sell on their investments at some point, “ adding that “News Corp’s exploration of ways in which it could be a part-owner of F1 while exploiting its worldwide appeal reflects the company’s interest in accessing the one global sports franchise that has so far eluded it.”
In the last few minutes Bernie Ecclestone has denied the story, telling the Daiy Telegraph: “It’s rubbish. The sport is not for sale.”
Crucially, Jean Todt recently made it clear that the FIA will have a right of veto on any sale.
The story clearly has some substance, given its source, but it would seem to be very early days. And Ecclestone won’t take kindly to the premature leak, unless it actually suits him to have talk about a sale out in the open.
The identity of the “manufacturer” is intriguing, and it’s worth noting that Carlos Slim protege Sergio Perez is a Ferrari young driver – and that Todt now has a lukewarm relationship with Maranello, to say the least.
Adam Cooper F1 
!&@!%$# don’t scare us like that.
“Kleinman also said: ‘CVC has said repeatedly it has no firm plans to sell F1, but of course private equity firms always sell on their investments at some point, ‘”
Sounds like corporate foreplay to me. I could see CVC/Bernie cutting a sweet deal, Todt/FiA vetoing it and with one stroke of the pen gaining more power than Jean-Marie Balestre ever dreamt of.
Hope it never happens. Remember, Murdoch is the guy who wants to put paywalls on Internet publications. So you can guess what would happen to online live timing, mobile phone applications, maybe even the formula1.com website.
Murdoch may have been a great man in the 20th century, but he is still stuck there while the rest of us have moved on.
No vulture funds, no Murdoch, no banksters. FIA live feed throughout in at least English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese and Spanish, free-online to viewers worldwide, with commentary by former drivers. End of story.