BERNIE ECCLESTONE has set out plans to step down as boss of Formula One after a renegotiation of the sport’s commercial pact.
A draft of a new “concorde agreement” circulating in the City outlines a procedure to recruit a new chief executive for the motorsport organisation. It also sets out how F1 is likely to stage a stock-market float. The document does not specify where the listing would take place, but it is thought that Singapore is the most likely venue.
The concorde agreement is a tripartite contract that determines how the spoils from the hugely profitable sport are shared between CVC, the private equity giant that owns the commercial rights, the competing teams, and the governing body. The new deal will run from 2013 to 2020.
The draft document, which was reported last night by Sky News, indicates that Ferrari, the Italian carmaker and racing team, will be given a stake in F1.
Ecclestone’s involvement in F1 over four decades has helped him become one of Britain’s richest men, with a fortune estimated in last year’s Sunday Times Rich List at £2.5 billion.
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A float of F1 would add to Ecclestone’s wealth. F1 experts believe the company could be worth about £3.5 billion today. Ecclestone holds a 5% stake in F1’s Jersey-based parent company, Delta Topco. Bambino, his family trust, owns a 9% holding.
CVC is also in line for a substantial windfall. The private equity house paid £1.1 billion in 2006 for majority ownership of Delta Topco.