Liberty Media announce huge $825m F1 stake sale to fund $4.2bn MotoGP takeover

In order to fund its takeover of MotoGP, American media conglomerate and F1 owner will sell off an $825million stake in the international open-wheel sport.

That sum is minor compared to the overall $4.2 billion it’ll take to acquire the 86 per cent stake in MotoGP that it intends to purchase from Dorna Sports.

Liberty Media sells 10 million shares

In order to fund its takeover of MotoGP, Liberty Media has offered up 10 million shares of Formula 1 to sell. Each share is priced at $77.50; a portion of the income will naturally go to paying off the company’s debts, but the rest will go toward the MotoGP purchase.

A press statement from Liberty Media reads, “Liberty Media Corporation announced today that it has priced the previously-announced public offering of 10,650,000 shares of its Series C Liberty Formula One Common Stock (“FWONK”) at a public offering price of $77.50 per share.

“Liberty Media also granted the underwriter of the offering an option to purchase up to an additional 1,597,500 FWONK shares.

“The offering is expected to close on August 22, 2024, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, and is expected to result in approximately $825,375,000 in gross proceeds to Liberty Media, before deducting the underwriter’s discounts and estimated offering expenses payable by Liberty Media.

“Liberty Media intends to exercise its option to deliver additional cash in lieu of shares of FWONK as part of its previously disclosed proposed acquisition (the “Acquisition”) of Dorna Sports, S.L., such that all the consideration paid will be comprised of cash and no shares of FWONK will be issued to the sellers.”

More on Liberty Media’s latest struggles:

👉 Andretti F1 twist as Department of Justice launches Liberty Media antitrust probe

👉 Andretti F1: Liberty Media run-ins with Department of Justice go back way further

It has taken longer than expected for Liberty Media to finally wrap up the deal with Dorna, and it became clear early on that it would take ample resources to fund the takeover.

Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta and his son Carlos will remain involved in MotoGP during a transitional period, after which point Liberty Media is expected to implement new management.

Back in 2016, Liberty Media enacted its takeover of Formula 1 and the new management allowed the sport to flourish with new approaches to social media and marketing. Netflix’s hit Drive to Survive docuseries is one such example.

Though not every decision made by Liberty Media has been overwhelmingly popular, the company’s ownership of F1 has resulted in a growing female and American fanbase — two demographics that had previously been overlooked.

Liberty will likely intent to enact a similar takeover of MotoGP, though the takeover process has been very drawn out.

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