13/07/2004
NEWS STORY
The Legendary Kyalami circuit, in South Africa, has been sold for £3.8m ($7.1m).
The new owners include the Imperial Group and a consortium of businessmen (MJF Associates), which includes; Mike Fogg, a former South African motorcycle champion, six times world motorcycle champion Jim Redman, and South Africa's 'Mr Motorsport' Dave McGregor.
It's understood that MJF Associates will manage the circuit, while Imperial will concentrate on the property and retail opportunities.
Managing Director of the former owners, the Automobile Association, Ed Kok said, "The AA has owned the AA Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit for eleven years now. As we have publicly stated in the past, owning Kyalami is not part of our core business, and that if the right offer came along, we would give it serious consideration. That deal has now become a reality and rather than the end of an era, we see it as the start of a new and exciting chapter in the circuit's history.
"It was always our intention to sell Kyalami to a company which had the best interests of motorsport at heart, and nobody embodies those ideals better than MJF Associates. In the interest of motorsport we identified MJF Associates as an entity that will take AA Kyalami - and motorsport - into an exciting new phase of development."
The Managing Director of MJF Associates, Mike Fogg said: "The preservation of Kyalami as a world-renowned motorsport icon is of paramount importance to us. At the same time we intend developing the property as a unique home for all facets of motoring, from the sport through to the retailing of motor vehicles. The track will remain central to the motoring theme.
"It has been a long and intensive negotiation period, and now that this is behind us, we together with our partners, Imperial Bank and Imperial Motor Holdings respectively, we can concentrate on the business of running Kyalami as South Africa's premier motorsport facility."
Ed Kok concluded by saying: "Having been the custodians of the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit for the past eleven years, we will pass the start flag on to the new consortium now, knowing it will be in very capable hands.
Between 1967 and 1985, Kyalami hosted 18 Formula One Grand Prix, though the World Championship returned to the legendary track in 1993.
Since then, other than a couple of F1 tests, Kyalami, like South Africa, has been missing from Formula One's 'world map'.
"After the 1993 Grand Prix, despite the economic benefits of Formula One to a country, we were unable to convince Government to sponsor the event," said Kok. "Exchange rate fluctuations over the past 11 years did not help either."
The AA's head office and national call centre is situated on a separate property adjoining the circuit.