Bernie Ecclestone faces sharp criticism from F1 owners CVC for the second time this year.
CVC Capital Partners board member Martin Sorrell gave the following quote to the Daily Mail following Ecclestone’s words of support for disgraced former Renault boss Flavio Briatore:
First, we had Hitler did good, now we have cheating is acceptable. Where will it end? His latest comments are yet another example, I’m afraid, of Bernie being totally out of touch with reality.
When will CVC’s patience with Ecclestone run out? While he took home a $4m (£2.5m / ?óÔÇÜ?¼2.7m) pay packet CVC lost over $500m (£313m / ?óÔÇÜ?¼340m) on F1 in the last financial year. Figures like this are likely to be a greater concern than negative headlines.
Bigbadderboom
26th September 2009, 11:55
Keith the bigger picture is far rosier in the long term for CVC, the strategy of buying F1 and all the associated businesses of which they now own, against money financed from F1 will see them wholly own all F1 revenue streams by 2011/12. They have declared turnover of 1.045billion euro for 2008, once they have paid off the borrowings, they will once again use F1 to refinance itself and re-invest the capital elsewhere, a short term loss like this is nothing in the bigger picture for them.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
26th September 2009, 13:41
So you think they will be able to pay off the loan?
JHunt
26th September 2009, 13:58
I think CVC made the most basic mistake humans tend to make in finance which is to continue projecting things in a straight line to infinity and beyond. If the budgets of teams are coming down, do you think the sponsors would cut the price tag as well? It will filter though the whole ecosystem, CVC will in the end forced to puke up the assets a couple yrs down the line, probably to a Mr. E. CVC buying F1 from Bernie is exactly like buying Blackstone from Schwarzman when he took it public, these are the ultimate private businesses and nobody knows the ins and outs better than they do. Why would they share that privilege with anyone else unless they are selling it to you right at the very very top of the market? F1 will survive, and probably be better in the end, but that has nothing to do with how much money CVC are going to lose …
Bigbadderboom
26th September 2009, 18:37
CVC own The Formula One Group of companies as I understand it, with the various rights these companies enjoy including advertising revenues from tracks, TV production and licensing, exploitation of all F1 Branding etc. The loss the have posted will include a huge repayment of part of the loan, I am currently trying to find out how much is outstanding, but previous performance from CVC has indicated they will repay before expectation.
steph90
26th September 2009, 11:55
I don’t know if this is isolated or if the grumblings about Bernie extend a lot further in the CVC. I suspect there may be some head-shaking about him but for many fans who want rid of Bernie, well they could be waiting a very long while. However, it does look like Bernie’s going to have a bit of a pay cut at some point.
Oh and Barrichello looks like he’s going to have to change gearbox and face the penalty.
Bartholomew
26th September 2009, 12:21
Martin Sorrell from CVC is a speculator, while Flav is a good team manager and a cool free spirit.
There is a special place reserved in the next world for Sorrell, Bernie Madoff, AIG and Goldman Sachs executives and all these specialists in usury and taking other people´s money
GO FLAV !!!
JHunt
26th September 2009, 12:51
Yep… this Sorrell got picked off by Bernie by buying at the top and is throwing the toys out of the pram .. not a very good speculator is he ? Bet u Bernie can’t stop giggling at that headline.. I just wonder if he is doing it on purpose so he can buy it back at the bottom… fun n games….
Bartholomew
26th September 2009, 14:16
It would be funny if CVC ran into trouble financially and a consortium headed by Bernie and Flav could buy the F1 rights back ( on the cheap ) !
LOL
Noelinho
26th September 2009, 20:57
It would, though it would, of course, have to be minus Flavio.