Ecclestone Expects New Owners of Formula One This Year as Takeover Looms

October 7, 2015

Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has admitted the sport may have new owners by the end of the year as it could be sold to one of three interested parties.

Ecclestone refused to reveal the three potential buyers but confirmed that he had been asked to continue in his role as commercial chief as part of any deal.

It was reported in June that Stephen Ross, owner of National Football League (NFL) franchise the Miami Dolphins and investors from Qatar were preparing a joint takeover bid of around £5 billion through their companies RSE Ventures and Qatar Sports Investments (QSI).

CVC Capital Partners, F1’s controlling shareholder, own a 35.5% stake, with Ecclestone owning 5%.

Speaking at the Camp Beckenbauer Global Summit in Austria, Ecclestone was questioned about negotiations, saying: “There has been a lot of interest and I would say there are three parties at the moment, where I would be surprised if one of them did not buy them (the shares) shortly.”

When asked when he would expect F1 to have new owners in place, he replied: “This year.”

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