CVC Reduces Stake In F1 From 63% To Around 35% Ahead Of Singapore Floatation

F1 majority investor CVC Capital Partners has now “cut its stake to around 35 per cent from 63 per cent in a series of deals in recent months,” according to the London TELEGRAPH. The deals have “helped to remove the pressure" on CVC to try to list F1 on the Singapore stock market. Some observers have speculated that the “hype generated around the flotation may simply have been designed to showcase the sport to private investors.” The CVC in a statement Friday said, "Several funds managed by Waddell & Reed Investment Management Company and Ivy Investment Management Company have today agreed to invest a further $500m in a private placement in Formula 1 at $9.1bn enterprise value" (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 6/16). In London, Garry White noted each F1 race “commands a television audience of more than 500m global and revenues are expected to surpass $2bn this season for the first time” (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 6/16).

EVERYTHING BIGGER IN TEXAS? In N.Y., Dave Montgomery wrote under the header, “Formula One Track, Nearing First Race, Gets Wary Embrace From Austin.” A Formula Expo was held in Austin this past weekend with “aims to introduce fans to the basics of Formula One through interactive exhibits, racecar simulators, meetings with former drivers and show cars.” The Circuit of the Americas track, set to host its F1 race in November, is “being built in southeast Travis County near Elroy, a ranching community of several hundred people on lots ranging up to 50 acres.” Elroy has “largely been bypassed by the growth that has developed other parts of the Austin metropolitan area, and its residents complain of inadequate services and the lack of basic conveniences like a supermarket or bus service.” The $350M project has “encountered its share of controversy, including a lawsuit between its principals, an earlier construction delay, and disputes about state and local subsidies.” But Circuit officials said that “work at the 1,100-acre site is on pace for completion this fall.” Circuit of the Americas Chief Marketing & Sales Officer Geoff Moore said that of the “more than 115,000 requests for information received by late May, about 35 percent were from Texas, 60 percent were from elsewhere in the United States and about 5 percent were from other countries, primarily Mexico, Canada and western Europe” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/16).