Belgian Member of the European Parliament, Pascal Arimont, has asked the Commission to investigate Liberty Media amid “competition concerns arising from the Formula One motorsport industry.”
Born in Malmedy, near the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Arimont, is a representative of Belgium’s Christian Social Party, which sits in the European People’s Party Group.
Arimont is the member for the Belgian German-speaking electoral college, which encompasses the Spa circuit.
His concerns come as Liberty Media is working to complete the acquisition of MotoGP’s commercial rights holding company, Dorna.
Arimont views the deal as a threat to consumers given the position it would place Liberty Media in within the motorsport market.
He also noted the ongoing investigation into Liberty Media in the United States, where the Department of Justice is investigating potential anti-competitive practices following its refusal to allow Andretti Global onto the grid.
“Commercial agreements make it also very difficult for new teams to join the F1 series, possibly restricting competition in an unlawful way – a point the US Department of Justice is investigating,” Arimont noted.
His concerns echo comments made by Formula E co-founder Alejandro Agag who also called for an EU investigation into the deal.
“From the point of view of competition law, I think there are significant challenges,” Agag told the Financial Times.
“The leverage that this merger will give the resulting entity in terms of negotiating with broadcasters will be significant and I think the European Commission will look very carefully at this deal.”
Should the MotoGP deal be successful, Liberty Media would hold rights to Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 3, and MotoGP, while Liberty Global has an interest in Formula E.
Previously, the European Commission ruled that CVC Capital must divest its interest in MotoGP upon acquiring Formula 1 in 2006.
Liberty Media boss Greg Maffei, and its head of legal Renee Wilm, have both spoken confidently that the deal will be allowed to complete.
“The CVC decision, which is almost 20 years old, was never really followed up on in terms of any kind of in-depth investigation or appeal process – they chose to just quickly close and move on,” Wilm said in April.
In order to do so, there are a number of regulatory approvals needed.
Some of those have already been received, with Maffei believing the AUD $6.9 billion transaction should complete ahead of the 2025 season.
“Regulatory filings are progressing on track,” Maffei said in August.
“We’ve received foreign investment control clearance in both jurisdictions needed, Italy in Spain, and we recently received merger clearance in Brazil and Australia.
“We continue to expect the transaction to close by year-end.”
Should an investigation result, it would therefore see Liberty Media under scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
What impact that has on the closing of the MotoGP deal is thus far unclear.
Discussion about this post