Liberty Media, US-based owner of the Formula One Group, is breaking out the war chest to take over MotoGP parent company Dorna Sports; with all signs pointing towards a Drive To Survive-level renaissance for the premier motorcycle racing format.
In exchange for an “enterprise value” of €4.2 billion ($6.95 billion), Liberty Media will acquire approximately 86% of Dorna while the existing management retains around 14% equity.
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Furthermore, while Dorna Sports will be attributed to Liberty Media’s Formula One Group tracking stock, it’ll remain an independent entity headquartered in Madrid with long-serving chief executive Carmelo Ezpeleta manning the proverbial fort.
“This is the perfect next step in the evolution of MotoGP, and we are excited for what this milestone brings to Dorna, the MotoGP paddock and racing fans,” said Ezpeleta.
Liberty Media’s President & CEO Greg Maffei added: “Carmelo and his management team have built a great sporting spectacle that we can expand to a wider global audience.”
“The business has significant upside, and we intend to grow the sport for MotoGP fans, teams, commercial partners, and our shareholders.”
Effectively, with both Formula 1 and MotoGP within its stable, Liberty Media now controls two of the world’s most prolific racing brands. As Bloomberg has pointed out, it could very well attract scrutiny from anti-trust regulators.
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For context, in order to buy into F1, CVC Capital Partners was forced to offload its MotoGP interests. Incidentally, Liberty Media would acquire the Formula One Group from CVC Capital Partners in 2017.
Subject to regulatory approval, this deal is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2024. As for how this will impact MotoGP as a whole, only time will tell. But if Liberty’s recent track record is anything to go by, we can almost certainly expect more eyeballs, more sell-out race weekends, and a buttload more money.
Now… let’s see where Apple fits into this whole equation.
