Over the past few weeks, some reports claimed that F1 owners Liberty Media have an interest in acquiring Dorna Sports in a $4.2 billion deal. Since Dorna Sports is the commercial rights holder for not only Moto GP but also other forms of motorbike racing such as the Superbike World Championship and an electric biking series called MotoE, Liberty Media will be able to monopolize the motorsports industry if they were to secure such a deal.
According to a Reddit post, “A €4bn ($4.2bn) deal that will see Liberty Media, the owner of Formula One motor racing, acquiring Dorna Sports, parent company of the MotoGP motorsport series, is expected to be announced in Madrid as early as tomorrow after months of talks with owner Bridgepoint“.
Liberty Media values Dorna Sports around $4.2 billion, an amount that also includes debt. If Liberty Media actually acquire Dorna Sports for this amount, they will beat the likes of Qatar-based investments and TKO, who were also in the race to take over the commercial rights of the premium motorbike racing competitions.
According to a previous report issued by The Financial Times, Liberty Media are keen to acquire Dorna Sports as doing so will give them a chance to prove that their success with F1 was not just a one-off. However, it is pertinent to note that it will not be easy for Liberty Media to acquire both F1 and Moto GP under the same umbrella.
What challenges can Liberty Media face in acquiring F1 and Moto GP together?
The last time that the same company owned the commercial rights to both F1 and Moto GP was Private firm CVC Capital Partners. However, after EU competition regulators raised concerns in 2006 about monopolization, CVC Capital Partners had no choice but to sell the rights to the motorbike racing series.
11 years later in 2017, CVC Capital Partners also decided to sell the commercial rights of F1 to Liberty Media. Although the American company have managed F1 brilliantly, they may not find it easy to acquire the commercial rights of the premium motorbike racing series, according to a competition lawyer.
As per the same report from The Financial Times, James Killick, a competition lawyer at White & Case, was one of the very few who explained why it will be difficult for Liberty Media to pull off such a move. Killick said, “I’d be very surprised if competition regulators didn’t look at it. The question is has the market changed?“
