James Erskine, who managed Muhammad Ali, Tiger Woods and cricketer Shane Warne, is "the man behind Sports Entertainment Limited's bid to buy Supercars," according to James Phelps of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. SEL's "founding father" is the "driving force" behind the entertainment firm's interest in buying a controlling 65% share of the motorsport competition. SEL is one of the five companies that "have officially registered an interest in the sale of Supercars after Archer Capital put its majority stake of the business on the market by contracting UBS to conduct the sale." With an asking price of A$100M ($74.3M), NewsCorp Australia and Ticketek owner TEG also "registered their interest in the sport." SEL emerged as a "serious candidate in the sale process with powerful sport’s broker and agent to the stars, Erskine, heading up the company’s buy bid." A former Supercars official said, "Erskine would be a perfect fit for the sport because he knows it inside out." Erskine is a former V8 Supercars chair with a "known passion for the sport." Although Archer Capital put a A$100M price tag on its Supercars stake, it is believed A$70M-A$80M ($52M-$59.4M) is a "more realistic valuation" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 5/17).
