NOVEMBER 13, 2014

F1 negativity to delay floatation plans again

The crisis of collapsing and complaining teams looks set to once again spoil plans for F1's stock market floatation.

The sport's majority shareholder CVC wanted to float formula one in Singapore in 2012, but the plans were delayed amid market uncertainty and Bernie Ecclestone's high profile legal troubles.

Those concerns have since lifted, and the financial news service Bloomberg claims that CVC was back on track to float F1 early in 2015.

The report said CVC has commissioned Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and UBS to work on the possible initial public offering.

But now two teams, Marussia and Caterham, have collapsed, and other struggling small outfits Lotus, Sauber and Force India are complaining loudly about F1's controversial income distribution model.

Oliver Weingarten, the former general secretary of the F1 teams alliance FOTA, said CVC will "want the negativity surrounding the sport to go away, and for there to be some stability, before they go to the market".

(GMM)