American media tycoon John Malone's firm Liberty Media is set to takeover Formula One after the shareholders of his firm voted to approve the move. The sale is set to be completed before the end of March pending a final approval from the sport's governing body, the FIA.
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Following a meeting with the shareholders in Colorado, a statement was released that read:
"The holders of its common stock entitled to vote thereat approved (I) a proposal relating to the issuance of shares of Series C Liberty Media common stock in connection with its pending acquisition of Formula 1 (the "Acquisition") and (ii) a proposal relating to the adoption of the amendment and restatement of Liberty Media's restated certificate of incorporation to effect the name change of the "Media Group" and the "Liberty Media Common Stock" to the "Formula One Group" and the "Liberty Formula One Common Stock," respectively."
Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone is set to make £800 million from the deal and is expected to continue as chief executive. "I'll keep on doing what I have always done," the Daily Mail quoted Ecclestone as saying.
This deal will also see Formula One's biggest shareholders CVC sell their 35.5 percent share of the business. This takeover by Liberty Media will give Formula One a major facelift as they look to increase the sports' appeal and its fan base especially in the United States, where it has struggled to gain audience.
They are planning to get Grand Prix in big US markets and are considering locations in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. They intend to turn each Grand Prix into a week of events to attract new sponsors with the aim of making each race "the equivalent of the Super Bowl."
Liberty Media are also looking to make the sport much more accessible around the world through various media platforms including smartphones and smart TV's. They also plan to get their marketing department into order after an F1 executive said that the sport has a unique global content and that they have not done enough to take advantage of that.
"There's no marketing, no research, no data, no digital platforms. This sport has unique global content and hasn't done enough to take advantage of that. We need to build the rivalries and enable people to understand the technology that goes into the sport," Business Insider quoted a Formula One executive as saying.
