F1 owners Liberty close to MotoGP buy-out, say reports

PARIS: Formula One owners Liberty Media are close to a US$4 billion (RM19bil) buy-out of the company that runs MotoGP, various media reported on Thursday.

Buoyed by its success in the four-wheel fast lane, Liberty are now looking to muscle in on the lucrative two-wheel series run by Madrid-based Dorna Sports.

Liberty are said to be in pole to seal a deal after beating off rival interest from Paris Saint-Germain's Qatari owners and sports and entertainment group TKO, according to Britain's The Financial Times.

As well as MotoGP Dorna also holds the rights to the Superbike championship and the electric bike series MotoE.

If successful Liberty will not be the first conglomerate to own both F1 and MotoGP.

CVC Capital Partners held that position until they were forced to sell MotoGP in 2006 to buy F1 after concerns were raised by European Union competition regulators.

Since Liberty paid CVC US$8 billion (RM37.8bil) for F1 in 2017 the sport has enjoyed a spike in popularity and the company's CEO Greg Maffei suggested last year that while F1 was not for sale it was worth now "a hell of a lot more" than US$20 billion (RM94.5bil).