Sky News' business editor Mark Kleinman occasionally reports on F1 but his latest report on the investigation into the sport's former chairman Gerhard Gribkowsky comes a little late to the party.
Several days after Pitpass was the first media outlet worldwide to reveal F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone's statement about being questioned by prosecutors in connection with the Gribkowsky investigation Kleinman has written his take on the matter. It wouldn't take Sherlock Holmes to have worked out the news which it reveals.
Klienman claims that the prosecutors will also interview Stephen Mullens and Donald Mackenzie - two other directors on the board of F1's holding company. Gribkowsky of course was arrested in January on suspicion of taking a $50m bribe for allegedly undervaluing shares in F1 which German bank Bayerishe Landesbank sold to finance firm CVC in 2006. Accordingly, it is hardly surprising that Mullens and Mackenzie, who is one of CVC's representatives on the board of F1, will be interviewed.
Kleinman's report also suggests that he stole the march on other outlets regarding Ecclestone being questioned. He writes "as I revealed in mid-March, the co-operation of F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone was also being sought." Given that Ecclestone is the chief executive of the business which prosecutors believe was undervalued, it was obvious from the moment Gribkowsky was arrested that they would want to speak to him about it. It literally goes without saying.
Another piece of news which would perhaps have been best kept quiet was that F1's board had got accountancy firm Ernst & Young and the lawyers Freshfields to investigate the sale to CVC. When Kleinman reported this in February Sky News itself trumpeted the story on its on-screen ticker and it broadcast repeated news items about it.
Kleinman said in his report that F1 "faces being thrown into turmoil," by the investigation from the two firms. However, what he failed to mention was something which was immediately spotted by Pitpass' business editor Chris Sylt who has specialised in reporting on the business of F1 for nearly a decade. Kleinman missed a small but absolutely crucial point - that the two firms are paid by F1 and work for it.
Both Ernst & Young and Freshfields had both already worked on the sale to CVC so there was pretty much no chance of them looking over the details and finding something which would lead to F1 being "thrown into turmoil." Pitpass brought this news to readers first and it also later revealed that, surprise, surprise, the investigation had completely cleared Ecclestone and CVC of wrongdoing. Pitpass has already speculated on who told Kleinman about the investigation (and, according to Sylt, Ecclestone himself has a good idea) and although turmoil was predicted as a possible outcome, it simply hasn't happened.
Interestingly, in his latest report Kleinman seems to be in two minds as to whether the investigation by Ernst & Young and Freshfields has actually finished. At one point he says "that separate probe has concluded" but elsewhere he describes it as a "parallel investigation taking place," and adds that although the two firms have not yet spoken to Ecclestone "I'm told that they plan to imminently." That would be for the probe which has now concluded...
It isn't the first time that Kleinman's reports on this subject have conveyed mixed messages. His initial report questioned our obvious statement that Gribkowsky was in prison by saying that "Pitpass, an F1 news website, reported at the weekend that Gribkowsky has been in a Munich prison since his arrest last month although I am not clear whether this is still the case."
Kleinman's subsequent reports clear up his previous uncertainty and his latest states that "Gribkowsky is in jail in Munich awaiting a decision by the prosecutor about whether to press charges." The change of heart mirrors another situation, completely unconnected to F1, which Kleinman has recently found himself in. It concerns the trading company Glencore which is lining up a $60bn flotation in London. On 14 April Kleinman tipped ex-BP boss Lord Browne as a contender for the role of Glencore's chairman but just a few hours later he was forced into a mea culpa as it became clear that Lord Browne was out of the running.
Kleinman blamed the non-appointment on an "extraordinary chain of events," but he didn't detail what they were. So surprising was this back tracking that it even made it into a news story in the London Evening Standard
In his latest report Kleinman suggests that others should do a bit of turning around too by stating that "contrary to a newspaper report last month, CVC has not abandoned plans to recruit an outsider to join its board." Readers of Pitpass knew this news two weeks ago but it is now part of Kleinman's 'exclusive' story. It also claims "German newspaper reports have suggested that Ecclestone paid the money in order to persuade the then Bayersiche Landesbank executive (and largest F1 shareholder) to sell its shares to CVC."
Our readers first knew about this last month when Pitpass' business editor Chris Sylt also revealed that he has seen F1 company documents which state that "key to structuring the transaction was allowing Bernie Ecclestone to retain operating control to continue growing the business." There is no evidence that any money was paid for this and, more to the point, if it was the reason for a bribe being paid, you certainly wouldn't expect it to be broadcast openly in company documents.
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