'Qatar and NFL owner to launch £5bn bid for F1'

F1 could be sold to a group featuring the owner of NFL team Miami Dolphins and investors from Qatar, according to a report in the Financial Times.

The £5bn deal is spearheaded by RSE Ventures, a sports and entertainment venture firm founded by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, and would reputedly feature Bernie Ecclestone, the sport’s long-time ringmaster, selling his five per cent stake.

However, it is expected that Ecclestone would retain his position as the sport's chief executive.

CVC Capital Partners are currently F1’s largest shareholders with 35.5 per cent. They took control back in 2006 in a $2bn deal and have since earned roughly a five-fold return on their investment.

But they have also reduced their stake in recent years, while a planned flotation on the Singapore Stock Exchange in 2012 was scuppered by the Eurozone crisis.

Last year, Liberty Global and Discovery Communications tried to buy a 49 per cent stake but the talks subsequently fell through.

Ecclestone confirmed to The Times on Tuesday evening that “three or four” bidders had emerged to open talks with Donald Mackenzie, CVC’s chairman.

“I have no idea whether any of these people have got closer with this, but CVC are in the business of buying and selling companies. They are very happy with F1 and Donald is not an enthusiastic seller, but their business is selling everything has a price,” Ecclestone said.

Ross was also involved in the attempt – fronted by David Beckham – to bring MLS to Miami, while his backers, Qatar Sports Investments, also own Paris Saint-Germain.

According to the Financial Times report, ‘one person connected to Qatari interests in other sports said that F1 was an obvious gap in the country’s sporting portfolio.

‘Another person said that Qatar had accelerated its interest in F1 after being stung by the ongoing scandal at Fifa over the 2022 World Cup.

‘Qatar believes that sport is an essential long-term commodity, like property, and Mr Ross’ team believe that F1 could be commercialised further, especially in the US.’