ECCLESTONE SET FOR FORMULA ONE IPO NEXT YEAR

          Formula One CEO Bernie Ecclestone said that $2.5B
     flotation of Formula One Holdings (F1) "could happen as
     early as next year," according to Patrick Harverson of the
     FINANCIAL TIMES.  A "dispute" between Ecclestone and the 11
     teams competing in F1 delayed the summer sale and had "led
     to speculation that Mr. Ecclestone would abandon the
     flotation."  Ecclestone: "It's not a case of if, it's a case
     of when."  Ecclestone added that "ideally he wanted the
     flotation to go ahead in early 1998, before the start of the
     next F1 season."  Harverson reports that Ecclestone wants
     Salomon Brothers to "cut the time he would spend on a
     roadshow selling the issue to investors."  As for a possible
     private sale, Ecclestone said that he had been approached by
     "one big company keen on buying a controlling stake in his
     business, but he was not interested."  While he would not
     reveal the company, Harverson wrote that BSkyB "had shown an
     interest" in investing in F1 (FINANCIAL TIMES, 9/29).