MARCH 20, 2000
Formula 1 to be sold again?
The deal makes a considerable amount of sense for EM TV, a quoted media company with enormous holdings in the licensing, merchandising, television rights sales and syndication industries, controlling lucrative brand names such as TheĆMuppets, Popeye, the Pink Panther, Elvis Presley, James Bond, Betty Boop and Woody Woodpecker. The boss of EM TV is Thomas Haffa who spent many years working for German TV magnate Leo Kirch (who provides much of F1's income from his digital TV service) before setting up his own company in 1996. An early listing on the stock exchange in Frankfurt helped to fund a spree of acquisitions which culminated in the purchase of the Jim Henson Company recently for $680m. The EM TV company is now turning over around $300m a year and with F1 could double that with TV rights sales and merchandising operations.