Formula One’s initial public offering (IPO) will definitely go ahead in 2013, according to the sport’s chief executive Bernie Ecclestone.
CVC, which owns a controlling stake in F1, had hoped to float the sport on the stock exchange last year, but the financial crash stalled those plans.
Instead, the investment firm has sold part of its stake to raise funds until the IPO goes ahead. Last year it sold a 28.4 per cent stake to BlackRock, Waddell & Reed and Norges, valuing the business at $7.1 billion (£4.6bn).
82-year-old Ecclestone revealed that CVC are putting the final touches in place, which included registering a new company on April 26th, CVC Delta Topco Nominee, as part of a reorganisation plan ahead of the floatation.
“We have agreed to do it,” he told the Telegraph. “It will happen this year and it will be up and running. CVC is getting on with it and putting all the bits and pieces together that they have to.”
The IPO is expected to happen around the Singapore Grand Prix in September.
