According to sources familiar with the situation, Formula One owner Liberty Media has exclusive negotiations to purchase the company that owns MotoGP. This would bring together the two elite racing series: the car and the motorcycle.
The people who spoke to the media said that Liberty, which was chaired and run by John Malone, a telecoms and entertainment billionaire, was poised on announcing the acquisition of Dorna Sports, after averting a bid from TKO (the sports and entertainment group led by Hollywood powerbroker Ari Emanuel).
Qatar Sports Investments (the state-backed group which owns French football team Paris Saint-Germain) had also expressed an interest in Dorna, and held discussions with its owner Bridgepoint, a private equity firm.
Dorna, based in Madrid, offers a unique opportunity to invest in a sport that has lucrative commercial rights. Dorna promotes a number of competitions including the Superbike World Championship, and an electric bike series called MotoE. It organizes 251 races per year in 20 different countries.
Any deal will likely be subject to regulatory scrutiny. CVC Capital Partners, a private equity firm that once owned F1 and MotoGP, was forced to sell MotoGP in 2006 after EU competition regulators raised concern. CVC sold F1 in 2017 to Liberty for $8bn.
James Killick of White & Case said that given the history of F1 & MotoGP, as well as the size of a possible combined group, it was “quite probable” to see competition probes in the UK, Germany and across the EU.
He said: “I would be surprised if the competition regulators did not look into it”. “The question to ask is: Has the market changed?”
Bridgepoint and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, two major investors in Dorna. Dorna’s top management, including Carmelo Ezpeleta as chief executive, is also a shareholder. Ezpeleta, who has been in charge of Dorna since 1983, is a similar figure to Bernie Ecclestone’s dominance over F1 during the same period.
Bridgepoint, Liberty Media F1, TKO, QSI, Dorna and the CPPIB declined to comment.
Liberty’s bid values Dorna more than €4bn including debt. One person warned that an agreement was close, but the announcement could be delayed until next week.
Liberty Media’s chief executive Greg Maffei would have the opportunity to show that the success of F1 in increasing its popularity was not an isolated event by purchasing MotoGP.
MotoGP’s business model is similar to F1 and revolves around sponsorship, corporate hospitality, corporate hospitality, broadcast rights, racing circuit fees, and merchandise.
Under Liberty, F1 made social media promotion a priority. Netflix was given unprecedented access to create the reality show Drive to Survive.
The program focused on drivers, team managers and owners. It has been credited for growing the sport’s audience. Liberty has expanded the F1 calendar this year to include 24 races in Miami, Las Vegas and Doha.
F1’s operating profits increased by 64 percent to $392mn, from $2.5bn, in 2023. Revenues grew to $3.2bn. Dorna’s revenues reached €483mn by 2023.
Bridgepoint, a Dorna shareholder since 18 years, now owns 40 percent of the company, which it purchased in 2006 for #550mn. In 2012, the CPPIB acquired its 39 percent stake in Dorna. Bridgepoint had owned it for 18 years.