MAY 22, 2012

CVC sells significant F1 stake

Reuters is reporting from Asia that CVC Capital Partners has sold a $1.6 billion stake in Formula One to three investors, including BlackRock, one of the world's pre-eminent asset management firms.

Reuters is reporting from Asia that CVC Capital Partners has sold a $1.6 billion stake in Formula One to three investors, including BlackRock, one of the world's pre-eminent asset management firms.

Although no official comment has been made, the two other investors are said to be asset manager Waddell & Reed and the asset management section of Norway's Norges Bank.

The move is understood to cut CVC's stake in F1 from 63.4% to around 40% and values the company, planning a Singapore IPO later this year, at over $7 billion, with Finance Asia reporting an enterprise value of $9.1 billion.

A refinancing deal may have required the raising of capital and the presence of well-known investment companies may lend further credibility to F1's IPO, which is being managed by Goldman Sachs, UBS and Morgan Stanley.