Last April it became official Liberty Media Corporation, the American media conglomerate that owns Formula 1, has reached an agreement with Dorna Sports SL to acquire MotoGP. In the deal, Liberty Media will acquire approximately 86% of Dorna, while Dorna management will retain its 14% stake in the business.
The transaction reflects a enterprise value for Dorna/MotoGP of €4.2 billion and equity value of €3.5 billionand MotoGP’s existing debt is expected to remain after the closing.
Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media, recently said at the Goldman Sachs Technology Conference Communacopia + that “When we announced it, people immediately called us and said: ‘I want to buy a team’. Even people like Lewis Hamilton”.
The manager added that “they saw what happened in Formula 1 and they wanted to follow the example. The big distributors called us and told us: ‘We want to participate’. Unfortunately, I had to tell them that “We can’t talk about it until we get EU approval, but we want to talk about it when we get it.”.
With great desire
Maffei, during the conversation, disputed that “I think MotoGP is, from the start, an incredibly exciting product. I don’t know if many of the attendees saw the races. To see people on motorcycles at a speed of 350 kilometers per hour, and 15 centimeters from each other, is wild. “The overtaking that happens is incredibly impressive.”.
Furthermore, Liberty Media’s CEO pointed that out “Unfortunately, it’s a sport that’s not well known in the United States and around the world.”. “There is interest in Asia and elsewhere, but the real heart is in Spain and Italy and, to some extent, France.”
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
