Ecclestone, BayernLB confirm stake sale

Ecclestone, the 75-year-old billionnaire who made a fortune by exploiting Formula One racing's commercial rights, said he would sell his 25 percent stake but remain as chief executive of the business.

BayernLB will also sell its holding of nearly half of the Formula One Group, which it collected three years ago as security on a unpaid loan after the collapse of Germany's Kirch media empire.

CVC is also in talks to buy the remaining shares in the company, which are owned by Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan, a source told Reuters earlier on Friday.

The parties to the deal said that a new company would be formed to house the Formula One business and that Ecclestone would still retain an unspecified stake.

For BayernLB, the sale marks the end of a tussle for control with Ecclestone, a former used-car salesman who transformed Formula One into a multi-billion-euro business.

The banks took a court action to get a bigger say in the management of Formula One, where despite owning more than 75 percent of the business they were classed as minority shareholders.

The sale comes amid uncertainty over Formula One's future.

Five major carmakers have threatened to launch their own series in 2008 unless significant changes are made to the way Formula One is run.

The Grand Prix Manufacturers Association wants more transparency and a bigger slice of the sport's commercial earnings.

Ecclestone is the son of a trawler captain who left school at 16 to become one of Britain's wealthiest and best-known businessmen.

He is seen as the sport's modern day architect who transformed it commercially by establishing a business to manage Formula One coverage and promotion rights, which saw its profits grow as the sport became more popular around the globe.