The telecommunications company will increase its participation in Formula E to 65%, thus becoming the majority shareholder of the category, with the remaining 35% made up of minority shareholders. Liberty Global, which invested a decade ago in the championship, will acquire the shares from Warner Bros Discovery and intends to complete the deal before the end of 2024, subject to regulatory approval.
The contract is independent of the ownership of Liberty Media with Formula 1 and the future control over Dorna Sports with MotoGP and WSBK. The announcement comes just after the electric modality prepares for its eleventh campaign with the 2024-2025 calendar that was published on Tuesday, which highlights a double event in Monaco and the inclusion of Miami.
The CEO of Formula E, Jeff Doddsnoted that the investment will focus on single-seater technology, expanding the calendar and promoting the championship: “The key areas of growth have been car technology, the jump between generation 3.5 to 4 is significant, and “It’s only two and a half years away, it’s going to be an incredible race car.”
“This week we announced our calendar, which is the largest in our history and, as motorsport fans, I hope you will appreciate that it contains some iconic and daring new features,” he continued. “The third has to do with noise. Working with talent, marketing, public relations, social networks and digital activation so that more people know about the sport we protect, which has led us to increase our fan base up to almost 400 million”.
“We are on the cusp of unlocking this exponential growth. Therefore, having an investor as convinced as Liberty Global to support us at a time when we are increasing our footprint and investing in technology and noise generation is essential “he explained.
For his part, the CEO of the new majority shareholder, Mike Friesnoted: “This is a crucial moment for Formula E. This is, like all categories, a moment when Formula E needs capital and it needs conviction, we absolutely intend to provide both and at this critical moment” .
Do you want to read our news before anyone else and for free? Follow us here on our Telegram channel and you won’t miss anything. All the information, at your fingertips!
