Ecclestone Faces New $1B Lawsuit Over The '05 Sale Of F1

F1 CEO BERNIE ECCLESTONE "faces a new legal challenge over the '05 sale of F1 after a private equity group filed a £650M ($1.03B) lawsuit claiming he conspired with others to prevent it from buying the motor racing series," according to Roger Blitz of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Ecclestone "is named along with CVC Capital Partners, which bought F1 for $1.6B in '05, and the German bank BayernLB as defendants in the suit, which was filed in N.Y. on Friday." Also named as a defendant in the suit is GERHARD GRIBKOWSKY. The claimant is Bluewaters Communications Holdings, which ahead of CVC's purchase "had put together a $1B offer for F1 with funding from two other private equity groups, Apollo Global Management and King Street Capital Management." The lawsuit alleges that Bluewaters "negotiated to buy F1 with Gribkowsky and BayernLB and submitted a written offer as well as an offer to pay 10% more in cash than any other bidder" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 11/19).