Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has stated that the sports parent company Delta Topco has voted to float the motorsport series on the Singapore Stock Exchange by the end of the year.
Formula One Group chief executive Ecclestone had said in March that a decision on whether to proceed with the initial public offering (IPO) would be made in the next three months or so. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Ecclestone said this procedure has now taken place. He added: We have agreed to do it. It will happen this year and it will be up and running. (F1s controlling shareholder) CVC is getting on with it and putting all the bits and pieces together that they have to.
The newspaper reports that the IPO plans were solidified on Friday with the establishment of Jersey-based company CVC Delta Topco Nominee, which is understood to be part of a reorganisation of the F1 company structure in preparation for the flotation. The sports much-hyped IPO on the Singapore Stock Exchange was delayed at the end of May 2012 due to poor market conditions. Ecclestone stressed at the time that IPO plans had not been scrapped, but that the sports owners were waiting for the right time to proceed.In the meantime, CVC Capital Partners further eased the pressure to float the sport, announcing in June that Waddell & Reed had increased its stake in the business from around 14.4% to 20.9% in a US$500 million deal. The agreement with the American asset management company was announced after CVC sold a 21% stake in the company for $1.6 billion in May 2012 ahead of its mooted IPO. That deal also involved Waddell & Reed, along with global investment manager BlackRock and Norway's Norges Bank. Junes transaction meant CVC cut its interest from around 63% to approximately 35% last year.Ecclestone is set to turn 83 this year, but he has stated that Formula Ones investors have not demanded that he appoints a deputy. The people that represent the funds are good people to work with, he added. They are not at all demanding for me to have a successor.
Source: Sports Business
