CVC Sells $500M F1 Stake To U.S. Fund Manager Waddell & Reed

F1 motor racing owner CVC Capital Partners has sold a $500M stake in the sport just days after "turmoil in global stock markets prompted it to delay taking the company public," according to Mark Kleinman of SKY NEWS. U.S. fund manager Waddell & Reed has "increased its stake in F1" to almost 21% in a deal valuing its parent company at more than $9B. CVC has owned F1 since '06. Sources close to CVC said that the latest transaction "demonstrated investors' appetite to invest in the sport" despite the fact that the prospects for a near-term stock market listing "had diminished" (SKY, 6/16). Meanwhile, James Allen reported that CVC is "reducing its stake in the sport" down to 35% from the 63% it originally had. That will take the total received by the company from this round of share sales to $2.1B. If and when CVC makes its exit from the F1 business at this valuation, it "would be one of the most successful private equity investments ever" (JAMESALLENONF1.com, 6/17).

DEEP IN THE HEART ...: In N.Y., Dave Montgomery reports the $350M Circuit of the Americas project  in Austin, Texas, "has encountered its share of controversy," but circuit officials say say that work at the 1,100-acre site "is on pace for completion this fall." Geoff Moore, the circuit’s chief marketing and revenue officer, said of the more than 115,000 requests for information received by late May, about 35% were from Texas, 60% were from elsewhere in the U.S and about 5% were from other countries, primarily Mexico, Canada and western Europe (N.Y. TIMES, 6/16).