Formula 1 Could Be Set For Float In New Year After CVC Failed To Buy IMG

F1 could be set for a multi-billion dollar sale or flotation in the New Year "after the sport’s biggest private equity owner, CVC capital partners, failed to buy IMG," according to Ben Harrington of the London DAILY MAIL. Sources said that CVC -- one of the largest investors in F1 -- "had put a flotation or sale of the business ‘on hold’ while it was trying to buy IMG." But after losing the bidding war to buy IMG last week to Hollywood talent agency William Morris Endeavor Entertainment and U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, sources said that CVC "is likely to pull the trigger" on either a sale of its 35% stake in F1 or a flotation of the business in '14. Throughout this year, CVC "has been working with several banks on a possible sale or float of Formula 1" (DAILY MAIL, 12/21).