F1 Shareholder CVC Collects $865M From Contracts With 'Major' Broadcasters

CVC Capital, which owns roughly one-third of F1's parent company, "has banked" an $865M divided "thanks to a string of major media deals," according to Sylt & Read of the London TELEGRAPH. The payout, made for the financial year to Dec. 2012, is "all the more significant as F1," which is run by CEO Bernie Ecclestone, did not "pay a dividend for the previous year." The $865M includes a $355M payout "awarded following a refinancing after the global sports management company put the brakes on a stock market float" in '12. In addition to the dividends, CVC, which bought into F1 in "a leveraged buy-out" in '06, has netted a further $2.1B from reducing its stake from 63% to 35.5% in recent years. The "new numbers show" that F1’s adjusted profits rose 24% last year to a record $426.4M as growth was driven by "a string of blockbuster deals including signing BSkyB to broadcast the sport" in the U.K. (TELEGRAPH, 10/5).