MARCH 9, 2001
Kirch tightens his grip on EM.TV
LEO KIRCH, the man who is on the verge of taking commercial control of Formula 1, has tightened his grip on Thomas Haffa's EM.TV operation with the appointment of Kirch New Media chief executive Rainer Huether to the EM.TV management board.
This has not been greeted with any enthusiasm by the car companies involved in the sport who have made it quite clear to Kirch that they will oppose his takeover of SLEC - if it happens. There has been talk of an alternative World Championship but it is unlikely to come to that. The current Concorde Agreement runs only until the end of 2006 after which the F1 teams can do as they please. In order for them to agree to be part of a new agreement Kirch is going to have to offer them a considerable increase in the share of the income generated.
Kirch says that Bernie Ecclestone has no right to veto the deal between Kirch and Haffa but there is no doubt that the FIA does have the right to cancel the current agreement if it chooses to do so. Haffa is particularly vulnerable as he is facing legal action and investigations into EM.TV share trading last autumn. The Deutsche Schutzvereinigung fuer Wertpapierbesitz, an organisation which protects shareholders, says it has received 800 complaints against EM.TV.
The stock market remains unconvinced by the deal agreed with the EM.TV share price remaining at around 7 Euros.