Jordan Admits to Midland Talks, but No Deal Yet

Eddie Jordan has made clear that he would welcome Russian-born billionaire Alex Shnaider buying into his Formula One team, even if a deal is not yet done.

"I've always held talks on an ongoing basis with people interested in taking the team forward," said the Irish entrepreneur on Monday. "Nothing has been done at this stage but I have met Alex a couple of times and I like him.

"I believe he would gain something from an involvement with Jordan and he is certainly someone who would be able to help the team become more competitive," he said.

Autosport.com reported at the weekend that a deal had been agreed between the two with an announcement expected next Sunday.

The Guardian newspaper reported that Shnaider's Midland Group was set to buy a 49.9 percent stake in the Silverstone-based team from the Irish investment company Merrion capital.

Shnaider, a 36-year-old naturalised Canadian citizen who grew up in Israel, has made a fortune through the privately-owned Midland Group which has extensive interests across Russia, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

The company is involved mostly in old-fashioned heavy industries, manufacturing, construction, agriculture and scrap metal dealing. Toronto-based Shnaider is already planning to enter Formula One in 2006 with a Midland team and said in October that he was prepared for the venture to cost his company at least $100 million a year.

Former Russian president Boris Yeltsin's grandson was recently recruited as marketing director for a team to be run in Britain by Formula Three team boss Trevor Carlin with a car designed by Dallara in Italy.

Buying a stake in Jordan would relieve Shnaider of the obligation to pay a mandatory $48 million bond to enter the sport as a new team while also conferring immediate rights to television income.

Jordan has been one of Formula One's most colourful characters since his team's debut in 1991 and is also the man who gave seven times World Champion Michael Schumacher his Grand Prix debut that same year.

But the team, who soared to third place in the 1999 Championship, are now struggling and looked in danger of going under last year until Toyota stepped in with an offer to provide affordable engines.

Jordan said last week that he would be happy to bring in new partners even if it meant diluting his own equity stake and expected to focus more on the commercial side in future.