Liberty Media is selling over 10 million shares in Formula 1 to raise money to fund its £3 billion takeover of motorcycling world championship Moto GP.
F1’s commercial rights holder announced it will sell a total of 12,247,500 shares in its ‘FWONK’ stock, priced at $77.50 per share. It expects to raise $825m (£629m) through the sale.
Liberty Media says the funds raised by the shares sale will be put towards the acquisition of Moto GP, which it expects to complete before the end of the year, and “for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of debt.”
They noted the share offer can go ahead regardless of whether the acquisition of Moto GP is successful. “If the acquisition is not consummated for any reason, the net proceeds from this offering would be available for general corporate purposes and attributed to the Formula One Group tracking stock,” said Liberty in a statement.
Liberty Media announced in April it was purchasing Moto GP owner Dorna Sports from Bridgepoint and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. They are buying 86% of the series in a deal which values Moto GP at £3.59bn (€4.2bn).
The American media company purchased F1 for £6bn ($8bn) in 2017. The series generated £2.5 billion ($3.2bn) in revenue last year. Earlier this month Liberty announced F1 generated £682m ($871m) in revenue over the second quarter of this year, an increase of 20% compared to 2023.
Much of the increase in revenue has come from adding new and more lucrative races to F1’s schedule. However Liberty Media has now reached the maximum of 24 races agreed by the teams, and the 2025 F1 calendar will include the same number of rounds again. It is therefore looking for new ways to raise revenue, which an expansion into motorbike racing may offer.
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