F1 Shareholding Unchanged by Bank Move
Bayerische Landesbank (BLB) has taken full control of Speed Investments Ltd - the company that owns 75% of Formula One's commercial rights holdings - but the German bank denied that it has bought out the two other banks who hold shares in Speed
BLB has been the majority shareholder in Speed, holding two thirds of the Speed shares, with two smaller banks - Lehmann Brothers and JP Morgan Chase - holding the remaining minority shares.
The three banks ran Speed Investments together, based on a Memorandum of Co-operation that was co-signed by all of them.
But the Memorandum expired last month, and BLB applied to the European Commission to request control of the whole of the undertaking of Speed Investments Ltd, by virtue of the bank's bigger proportion of shares in the company.
The Commission approved BLB's application last week, leading to incorrect media reports suggesting that BLB had bought out the shares held by the two other banks.
A spokesman for BLB has told Autosport-Atlas: "Yes, we have sole control of Speed Investments, but it is not true that the other two banks have left. There has been no change in the shareholding at all."
Speed Investments owns 75 percent of SLEC Holdings Limited. The other 25 percent of SLEC is owned by Bernie Ecclestone's Bambino Holdings company.
BLB's move is seen by industry insiders as a simple 'house keeping' measure aimed at protecting the bank's rights as the largest shareholder. Moreover, with BLB assuming full control of the company, there is no need for the German bank to buy out the other two shareholders.
This last development does not change the balance of power within SLEC, and insiders have clarified this would have no bearing on negotiations over the sport's future.
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