FEBRUARY 15, 2002

Kirch denies Ecclestone deal

THE Kirch Group says that it has not received any offer from Bernie Ecclestone for the company's shares in SLEC, the company which controls the commercial rights to Formula 1 racing. This does not mean that an offer is not in the pipeline although there are so many rumors flying around about Kirch at the moment that anything could be true. It is also possible that the idea was floated in the media to see if there was a positive reaction from Kirch.

A Kirch spokesman said that it there was an offer of $700m for the shares, the Kirch Group would not even think about it as it would mean a huge loss on the investment. Having said that Kirch may end up needing all the help it can get. Despite the companies protestations the word is out in financial circles that Kirch is in deep trouble and so the pressure is increasing as more banks ask for their loans to be repaid. A number of big financial institutions and banks are now looking at what is worth acquiring from Kirch.

Print News Story