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One of the biggest power brokers in motorsport has called on Brussels to demand concessions from the owner of Formula One ahead of its proposed €4.2bn takeover of the elite motorbike series MotoGP.
Alejandro Agag, co-founder and chair of electric car series Formula E, warned that the deal threatens to hand US group Liberty Media “very significant” power with broadcasters when negotiating media rights deals.
The US group agreed a €4.2bn takeover of MotoGP in April. It is hoping to emulate its success with F1, which has boomed in popularity beyond its European heartland thanks to the Drive to Survive series on Netflix and new races in Miami and Las Vegas.
“From the point of view of competition law, I think there are significant challenges,” Agag told the Financial Times in an interview. “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.”
Agag, who also founded off-road racing competition Extreme E and electric powerboat series E1, stopped short of saying the takeover must be blocked but called for “proper remedies to guarantee fairness in the market”.
He expressed concern despite the link between Liberty Media and Formula E’s major shareholder, Liberty Global. Telecoms and media tycoon John Malone chairs both Liberty Global and Liberty Media — which are separate public companies with different leadership teams — with shares that grant him significant voting rights in each group.
Liberty Global, which took a controlling stake in Formula E in June, declined to comment.
Agag, a former member of the European parliament, made the comments in a personal capacity.
A Formula E spokesperson said: “As a former politician Alejandro has a strong personal interest in antitrust issues and was expressing his own views. We generally don’t comment on prospective deals.”
Agag’s remarks came as Liberty Media hopes to complete the MotoGP takeover by the end of the year. Liberty Media is preparing to formally file the deal for scrutiny by Brussels in the coming weeks, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
F1 has been owned by Liberty Media since 2017 after it acquired the car racing series in an $8bn deal from CVC Capital Partners. European regulators have previously required that F1 and MotoGP be owned separately. When CVC bought F1 in 2006, the commission approved the deal on the condition that the private equity firm sell the motorbike series.
Liberty Media’s chief Greg Maffei previously told the FT that he was “very confident” that the deal would gain approval. “We’re certainly not going to be trying to merge and sell the product in the TV market as one,” he said.
“There is a very large and growing market for audiovisual entertainment well beyond sports, and this transaction will enhance MotoGP’s ability to compete in this highly competitive market,” Liberty Media said. “We are confident that the European Commission will understand the dynamic nature of the market and clear the transaction.” The company added it looks forward to continuing its “constructive work” with the commission.
In January Agag agreed a partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund across Formula E, Extreme E and E1 to promote electric racing in a key sponsorship deal for the competitions. He had held talks earlier this year for Liberty Media to invest in Extreme E, but no deal materialised, according to three people with knowledge of the negotiations.
Additional reporting by Javier Espinoza in Brussels