The Melbourne-based Tickford has engaged capital and corporate advisory specialists Prime Financial Group to seek fresh investment.
Prime Financial Group has distributed an investment presentation document seen by Speedcafe that spruiks the Tickford business and the health of the Supercars Championship.
The document does not state how much of the team – currently co-owned by Rod Nash and Sven Burchartz – is for sale.
Nash, a businessman and former racer, teamed with Rusty French to buy the operation from David Richards’ Prodrive UK in 2012.
Burchartz, a lawyer specialising in the motorsport field, later joined as an equity partner. French departed the ownership mix in early 2022.
The current Tickford business has three distinct arms; its Supercars Championship squad, a Super2 Series team and a Tickford Engineering offshoot that was launched last year.
Tickford underwent significant change ahead of the 2024 season, slimming its Supercars effort down from four entries to two and parting ways with long-time CEO Tim Edwards.
Simon Brookhouse, an investment banker turned sporting administrator best known for a stint as CEO of NBL team the Tasmania JackJumpers, took over as Tickford CEO in February.
Brookhouse says the primary reason for the attempted capital raising is to fund the growth of the engineering arm of the business, eyeing expansion into other industries.
“One of the reasons I was brought in was to look at how we can commercialise the overall business, not just the race team,” Brookhouse told Speedcafe.
“One of the things I identified pretty early on is the engineering part of the business has a lot of opportunity for growth, but to be able to do that there’s a necessity to raise some capital.
“We’re simply seeking some investment to allow us to continue to grow and build on that side of the business, which ultimately fuels the cash flow for the racing team.
“It’s one of those things where you can go along as you are and continue to make bits and pieces for your own race team, but we’ve got all this equipment, quality staff and engineering capability.
“A good example is the steering rack we’re doing for Supercars right now. With the right investment and the ability to globalise that, it could be something that goes to categories around the world.
“But we need to be able to step up what we’re doing in terms of production and delivery.”
Brookhouse said there is no set percentage of the team for sale. A total offloading of the business by Nash and Burchartz is not being ruled out but is considered unlikely.
There is also no set timeline on the hunt for funding. Prime Financial Group is known to have been in the market seeking investment for Tickford since late September.
“It’s really a fact-finding mission to see what interest is out there and then we’ll make some decisions if the right investors come along,” he said.
“I’d say that’s unlikely [that 100 percent of the team would be sold] but you never know if the right amount of money comes along.
“Rod and Sven are both invested and we’ve been talking a lot about next year and how we’re going to go.
“We’re focusing on what we do and setting ourselves up as we are for next year, there’s no change in terms of budgets and staffing structures and whatnot.
“We’re looking at status quo into 2025. But if something was to fall out of the woodwork, we’d certainly consider it.”
It’s already been a big year in the Supercars team ownership market.
Thirty percent of Triple Eight Race Engineering changed hands mid-season when Jessica Dane sold her stake in the powerhouse team to Earl Evans and Steve Blackmore.
Triple Eight is continuing to ramp up engineering and manufacturing work outside of its Supercars team, including into the aerospace industry.
Erebus Motorsport was earlier this year close to a sale agreement with VAILO boss Aaron Hickmann, who has more recently been linked to discussions with Brad Jones Racing.
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