JULY 30, 2001

Jordan's soccer moves

FORMULA 1 team boss Eddie Jordan is rumored to be planning to invest some of his money in buying a British soccer club. There have been stories over the weekend about Jordan making a big investment in the best known of all teams Manchester United although the well-connected Financial Times in London suggests that it is more likely that the deal will be for the Scottish club Celtic. The news would be a logical extension of Jordan's business - in much the same way as Tom Walkinshaw's involvement with the Gloucester rugby team. However the downside of the idea is that it deflects attention away from the F1 team and that can affect performance.

Jordan's long-term goal is to build up a Jordan brand which can market Jordan-branded products. There is a certain amount of cynicism in F1 that the Jordan brand has a value but Eddie is pushing ahead despite the snipes.

Jordan has made a lot of money out of Formula 1, selling 40% of his team to the venture capitalist firm Warburg, Pincus & Co for what is rumored to have been $60m back in the autumn of 1998.