Banks offer SLEC shares for Concorde extension
The investment banks that have EU clearance to acquire a majority stake in F1 rights holder SLEC Holdings [Oct 18] have reached an agreement with BMW and Mercedes-Benz covering a 10-year extension of the Concorde Agreement until 2017, claims Sueddeutsche Zeitung. The German newspaper says that the banks are offering shares to the manufacturers as an alternative to the proposed GPWC 'breakaway' series
, and gained permission from the EU Competition Commission last week to acquire the stake in SLEC held by , the bankrupt German media firm which cannot repay loans.
GPWC was formed by BMW, DaimlerChrysler (Mercedes), Fiat (Ferrari), Ford (Jaguar) and Renault, all of which want greater control over their F1 investments and a larger share of the F1 revenue stream. The purpose of the Dutch-registered company is to replace F1 with their own series at the expiry of the present Concorde Agreement at the end of 2007.
However GPWC is said to be at an advanced stage of planning, and to be prepared to start its series before that date if it can persuade all the signatories of the Concorde Agreement to annul the current contract. Such an event would likely leave the three investment banks holding worthless shares.
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