Liberty Media, the company that holds the commercial rights to Formula 1, is close to acquiring MotoGP. The information was released this Wednesday by Financial Times, speaking of an offer of around four billion euros. Currently, Dorna Sports controls this motorsport competition, but the deal – supposedly awaiting final details to be defined – could be closed next week.
If this acquisition is confirmed, MotoGP and Formula 1 will once again have the same owner, a situation that is not unprecedented in the history of the two competitions. Until 2006, the Luxembourg investment fund CVC Capital Partners controlled the two main types of motor sport, but was forced to sell the motorcycle race by the European authorities. Ten years later, in 2016, it was time to hand over control of Formula 1 to Liberty Media, the current owner.
Liberty Media has capitalized on the growing success of Formula 1 – justified, in part, by the launch of the series Drive to Survive from Netflix. The attraction of new sports lovers and the increasing expansion of the race calendar boosted revenues and profits, allowing Liberty Media to now look at the world of motorcycles and have financial space for this large proposal.
Dorna is made up of two large shareholders. Bridgepoint owns 40% of the capital, acquired for 550 million euros in 2006, followed by Canada Pension Plan Investment, which acquired 39% of the former’s stake in 2012. In 2022, Dorna Sports recorded a loss of 7.8 million euros, writes the site specialized Motosport.
Despite now being considered the likely winner in this fight for MotoGP, Libery Media had to overcome two strong opponents. As the writer writes Financial Times, the sports and entertainment group TKO was one of those that made bids for the competition. Qatar Sports Investments, the group that controls the French club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), also showed interest in this business.
