Liberty Media concludes deal to buy MotoGP
Englewood, Colorado based Liberty Media has now closed the public offering of shares in Formula 1 that it announced in April, in order to help fund its controversial (and ambitious) acquisition of an 86% ownership position in Madrid based MotoGP rights holder Dorna Sports.
At a public offering price of $77.50 per share, underwritten by Goldman Sachs, Liberty sold some 12,247,500 shares in F1 (FWONK), resulting in approx. $949,181,300 in gross funds to Liberty Media. This represents sale of a $825m stake in Formula 1 to fund the purchase of MotoGP.
At the time of the announcement, the deal was valued at $4.2bn, with the remaining 14% stake staying with MotoGP management. The deal to buy Dorna will be cash only, with no shares in Formula 1 issued to the sellers - British Private Investment company Bridgepoint and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments).
Liberty Media had originally hoped to be able to announce the deal in March 2024, before the new MotoGP season started, but had to beat off competition from Qatar Sports Investments (the country's sovereign wealth fund) and Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Wrestling Entertainment owners TKO.
At the time of the original announcement, Liberty Media President and CEO Greg Maffei described MotoGP as a "global league with a loyal, enthusiastic fan base, captivating racing and a highly cash flow generative financial profile. Carmelo [Ezpeleta, Dorna CEO] and his management team have built a great sporting spectacle that we can expand to a wider global audience.
"The business has significant upside, and we intend to grow the sport for MotoGP fans, teams, commercial partners and our shareholders." Initially at least, Ezpeleta and his Sporting Director son Carlos will remain involved.
