Neil Morrison | April 1, 2024
A widely expected announcement on Monday, April 1, confirmed Liberty Media has acquired MotoGP.
The American company, based in Colorado, already owns Formula One and has added motorcycle racing’s elite competition to its portfolio, by buying around 86 percent of the shares in Dorna Sports S.L, which owns the rights both the MotoGP and WorldSBK championships.
Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta informed the current MotoGP teams either during the opening rounds of the 2024 season in Qatar and Portugal that an acquisition was imminent. On Monday it was confirmed Liberty Media, who bought Formula One in 2017, were the buyers.
It’s all about the change in MotoGP as Liberty Media takes over the reigns.
They have bought out both Bridgepoint Capital and CPPIB, the CPPIB, who had become the previous principal shareholders of Dorna Sports S.L., in 2006 and 2012 respectively. Bridgepoint had owned 39 percent of Dorna, while the CPPIB owned 31 percent. The rest was owned by Dorna management, including Ezpeleta.
With Liberty poised to acquire around 86 percent of the company, Dorna management will retain “approximately 14 percent of their equity in the business,” according to an official statement. “The transaction reflects an enterprise value for Dorna/MotoGP of $4.5 billion and an equity value of $3.7 billion.”
Ezpeleta had previously informed teams that the new owners had no plans to dramatically change MotoGP. Indeed, an official statement stated Dorna Sports S.L. will “remain an independently run company attributed to Liberty Media’s Formula One Group tracking stock.” Ezpeleta will remain in place, and continue to run the business, which will remain in Madrid.
“We are thrilled to expand our portfolio of leading live sports and entertainment assets with the acquisition of MotoGP,” said Liberty Media President and CEO Greg Maffei.
“MotoGP is a global league with a loyal, enthusiastic fan base, captivating racing and a highly cash flow generative financial profile. Carmelo and his management team have built a great sporting spectacle that we can expand to a wider global audience. The business has significant upside, and we intend to grow the sport for MotoGP fans, teams, commercial partners and our shareholders.”
Many fans have voiced fears that the acquisition will turn MotoGP into a two-wheel version on Formula One. But during an investors’ call hours after the official announcement, Maffei stated there were no plans to make sweeping changes to the sport.
“I like to believe that’s the potential here,” he said. “This is an unbelievable product, (and) we are not planning to change this sport. This is a great sport with a great fanbase that has unbelievable competition and unbelievable excitement.
“Our goal is to open that up to a broader audience and open it up to a broader set of commercial partners of all flavors. And I think those go hand in hand.”
An official statement released by Dorna stated the acquisition should be completed by the end of this calendar year, “and is subject to the receipt of clearances and approvals by competition and foreign investment law authorities in various jurisdictions.”
Industry experts have expressed doubts as to whether Liberty Media would receive clearing for the acquisition. These stemmed from the fact CVC Capital Partners, MotoGP’s former owner, had to sell when it bought into Formula One in 2006, a move which caught the attention of European Union’s monopolies commission.
Yet during the investors’ call on April 1, Maffei sounded bullish on Liberty’s chances of completing the acquisition. “We’re very confident we will get this through regulators because we believe there is a broad market for sports and entertainment properties, of which both Formula One and MotoGP are only a small subset, and the market has continued to change from the time when the market was previously reviewed in a major way.
“We’re not going to treat these as a bundle or try to bring them together in the market.”
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