Formula One Holdings
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Formula One Holdings Ltd. or FOH is a holding company which nominally controls various Formula One "group companies" established by Bernie Ecclestone. FOH is a subsidiary of Alpha Prema, owned by CVC Capital Partners and the Ecclestone family.
[edit] FOH controlled companies ¹
- Formula One Administration Ltd.
- Formula One Management Ltd.
- Petara Ltd.
- Formula One Licensing BV
- Formula One Asset Management Ltd.
- Formula One World Championship Ltd.
- Formula One Productions Ltd.
- Formula One World Travel Ltd.
[edit] History
SLEC Holdings was originally owned 25% by the family of Bernie Ecclestone (through Bambino Holdings) and 75% by Kirch, the German media group. Due to the agreement associated with their shareholding SLEC was controlled by Kirch, who hence controlled the board of Formula One Holdings (FOH).
Kirch spent heavily on both Formula One and World Cup rights with the aim of generating a large income stream, however the expenditure lead to bankruptcy. The banks, (Bayerische Landesbank, JP Morgan Chase and Lehman Brothers) acting as creditors, took control of Kirch's share of SLEC Holdings as a way of recouping some of the money that was owed to them. However this control has not been translated into a similar control of Formula One Holdings or its operating companies; in particular Formula One Management, which is responsible for the day to day running of the commercial side of Formula One.
In mid-November 2004, the three banks sued Ecclestone for more control over the sport, prompting speculation that Ecclestone might altogether lose the control he has maintained for more than thirty years. A two-day hearing began on November 23, but after the proceedings had ended the following day, Justice Andrew Park announced his intention to reserve ruling for several weeks. On December 6, 2004, Park read his verdict, stating that "In [his] judgment it is clear that Speed's contentions are correct and [he] should therefore make the declarations which it requests" [1]. However, Ecclestone insisted that the verdict - seen almost universally as a legal blow to his control of Formula One - would mean "nothing at all" [2]. He stated his intention to appeal the decision.
The following day, at a meeting of team bosses at Heathrow Airport in London, Ecclestone offered the teams a total of £260,000,000 over three years in return for unanimous renewal of the Concorde Agreement, which expires in 2008 [3]. Weeks later, Gerhard Gibkowsky, a board member of Bayerische Landesbank and the chairman of SLEC, stated that the banks had no intention to remove Ecclestone from his position of control [4].
In November 2005 CVC Capital Partners announced it was to acquire the 25% and 48% shares of Bambino and Bayerische Landesbank in SLEC and acquired the shares of JP Morgan Chase in December 2005. This deal was given approval by the European Commission on March 21 2006 and finalised on March 28. Ecclestone used the proceeds of the sale of Bambino Holdings' share to invest in Alpha Prema to give the Ecclestone family an unspecified stake in Alpha Prema. [5]
