Bernie Ecclestone says that until CVC Capital Partners decides what it wants to do, in terms of its stake in F1, the sport is effectively in limbo.

The private equity firm bought F1 in 2006 with a $1.1bn loan financed by the Royal Bank of Scotland and a further loan of $965m from its investment Fund IV.

Since then, CV, which has sold off some of its holding but still retains a 35% share, has raked in around $4.4bn in dividends, whilst its remaining stake is said to be worth around $3bn.

Whilst 20.7% has been sold to American asset management company Waddell and Reed, and Ecclestone himself holds 5.2%, there have been several false starts in terms of CVC's future in terms of F1.

Having held its stake for twice as long as its usual holding period there were plans to sell the stake in a public floatation in 2012 but this was abandoned due to the economic downturn.

There has also been talk of buy-outs by the likes of RSE Ventures, owners of the Miami Dolphins (amongst others), but in the end CVC has stayed put.

Now Ecclestone is calling on the private equity firm to make its plans public, admitting that the uncertainty is holding the sport back.

"I'm hoping that (CVC co-chairman) Donald Mackenzie will decide if he wants to dispose of the company or not," he told the Daily Telegraph, "because if not we will be running it perhaps in a different way than we do today and we can make a lot of improvements.

"I have been running things with my hands tied behind my back a little bit," he added. "I'm still running the company like a public company. There are lots of things I would love to do which I haven't done because CVC has been very clear that the company has to be run like a public company."

Ecclestone's comments come at a time when the question of who might succeed him is being discussed by the sport's owners. Last week, anticipating the moment he decides he wants to call it a day, the board of the sport's parent company, Delta Topco, met to discuss life after him.

For, clarity, when we use the words CVC and invest, one should not take this to mean the company puts money in to the sport, it merely takes it out. It is a cash cow, a veritable high-octane golden goose.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Darvi, 15/03/2016 22:01

"CVC are coining it in and putting nothing back...... Bernie is doing the same ....... time for both to go."

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2. Posted by Jonno, 15/03/2016 20:57

"For gawds sake, no way will anyone believe that Bernie is the victim here. If there is a problem with selling F1, it would be the new owners buying it, with a sitting tenant, who's got all the keys.
F1 cannot move on all the time CVC and Bernie are running FOM.

"

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3. Posted by You Started It!!, 15/03/2016 11:37

"Simple, to take money and do nothing."

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Ecclestone calls on CVC for clarity

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