MotoGP sale passes critical hurdle as F1 posts Q2 results

In April it was announced that Liberty Media and Dorna, the company that holds the commercial rights to MotoGP, had agreed a deal worth $6.9 billion.

The deal was subject to regulator approval in a number of markets including Australia.

Speaking on investors on Thursday, Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei announced it had cleared a number of those barriers.

The development is an important step towards the deal completing by the end of the year, leaving Liberty with control of the world’s two leading motorsport competitions.

“The transaction is progressing well,” Maffei revealed.

“Regulatory filings are progressing on track.

“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.”

The MotoGP business will sit within Formula 1 Group in Liberty’s business structure.

However, the two championships will remain separate, a key point to satisfy regulators.

Liberty Media acquired F1 for $8 billion in 2017 and has driven growth in the business such that it is now valued around $25 billion.

On Thursday, F1 posted a second-quarter income of $165 million, up $24 million on the same period a year ago.

“Primary F1 revenue increased in the second quarter with growth across media rights and sponsorship partly driven by two more races held in the current period, which resulted in a greater proportion of season-based revenue recognized, as well as contractual increases in fees,” Liberty said in a statement.

“Media rights revenue also benefited from continued growth in F1 TV subscription revenue.

“Sponsorship revenue also increased due to the impact of the mix of races on event specific fees and recognition of revenue from new sponsors.

“Race promotion revenue was relatively flat in the second quarter as fees from the additional races were offset by the different mix of events compared to the prior year period.

“Other F1 revenue increased in the second quarter primarily due to higher hospitality, freight, travel, technical services and F2 and F3 income driven by the additional races held in the current period.”