ISC owns one dragstrip and 12 NASCAR tracks, including Daytona Int'l SpeedwayGETTY IMAGES
NASCAR has bid about $1.9B to try to acquire ISC and take it private, a seismic move that could reshape U.S. motorsports. NASCAR made a non-binding cash offer for ISC's Class A and Class B common stock that the Frances did not already own, at $42 a share, which Bloomberg put at $1.9B total. The companies will continue operating as separate entities while the bid is reviewed by a group of ISC board members who are not part of the France family. The deal would have to be approved by a majority of ISC stockholders and is likely to take multiple months to sort through. NASCAR retained Goldman Sachs as financial advisor and Baker Botts as counsel, while BDT & Company is advising the France family. ISC owns 12 NASCAR tracks and one dragstrip. The possibility of the Frances making such a major move had been speculated amid talk of whether the family will sell part or all of NASCAR, but the announcement was sudden and had not been reported as imminent. The release stated that the Frances intend to combine the companies and continuing operating it.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: The move makes the potential for a sale of a stake in the sport because it removes one of the major complexities of NASCAR that made it more difficult to effect sweeping, unilateral change. Comcast has been said to no longer be in talks to acquire NASCAR, but this move will rejuvenate industry speculation around the Frances' plans to change the structure of the sport. Prevailing industry sentiment this weekend has been whether this is a harbinger of further track consolidation, potentially with SMI or independents like Pocono, Indianapolis Motor Speedway or Dover. SMI declined comment to several media outlets this weekend. IMS has repeatedly said it is not for sale over the years and track President Doug Boles reaffirmed that in an article this weekend (Adam Stern, THE DAILY).
WHAT IT MEANS: ESPN.com's Bob Pockrass noted NASCAR and ISC "indicated that there is no interest in ISC entertaining any other offers as the France family is not interested in selling its shares of ISC at this time." Both NASCAR and ISC on Friday sent a note to employees "asking them to continue their respective work." A letter was also sent to NASCAR Cup team owners that said that the sale process "will take some time." As of Aug. 31, the France Family Group controlled approximately 74.2% of the "combined voting power of the outstanding ISC stock" (ESPN.com, 11/9). YAHOO SPORTS' Nick Bromberg wrote the potential acquisition "could be good news" for those looking for a possible schedule shakeup. It is also "worth mentioning that NASCAR is more valuable to a potential investor with tracks included in its portfolio" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/9). NASCAR team owner Roger Penske said, "It's a very smart move by the France family. In today's world, having a public company and not being able to grow it at the level that shareholders have expectations (for) ... it de-complicates the relationship between NASCAR and the public (company) ISC." Penske said that a competing bid -- which "wouldn't come from him -- 'would be very difficult with as large a shareholder as they (family) are ... but you never know in today's crazy world'" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 11/11).
