The Weekly Grapevine

A Busy Week of Politics

It has been quite a fortnight for Formula One's administrators, has it not? First came the announcement that CVC Capital Partners had reached an agreement with SLEC - or most of the sport's controlling entity, in any event - to gain a majority interest in the operation owned 75% by a trio of banks and 25% by Bernie Ecclestone's family's trust, Bambino. Inherent in the deal was the formation of a new vehicle, Alpha Prema.

Making up Prema Alpha were the shares of Ecclestone and of Bayerische Landesbank, the latter holding 52.5% of the total; excluded from the deal, according to a release issued by CVC on 25 November, were the shareholdings of Lehman Bros and JP Morgan, each of whom held a sliver under 14% of SLEC. Thus Alpha Prema would hold 72% of SLEC and be managed day-to-day by Ecclestone, whose Bambino trust was expected to make a re-investment in Formula One, whilst Gerhard Gribkowsky, the Bayerische board member who had been chairman of SLEC, too, would, rather inexplicably, be on the board of Alpha Prema.