The tanking of Warner Bros Discovery’s share price, and uncertainty about the company’s future, has at least led to good news and opportunity for one party.
Liberty Global gains controlling interest in Formula E
Yesterday, broadband and telecommunications company Liberty Global Ltd. announced that it will acquire shares held by Warner Bros. Discovery in the electric car racing series Formula E.
The acquisition of shares held by Warner Bros. Discovery will, on completion, bring Liberty Global’s total share of ownership in Formula E to 65% and mean that Liberty Global will take a controlling interest in Formula E.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, with closing expected before year end.
Liberty Global on expanding its investments
On the news, Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries said that:
We’re excited to take a controlling interest in Formula E, a business we first invested in nearly ten years ago. Formula E has a massive potential for further growth while integrating the most advanced sustainability standards in sports. The investment continues our approach of disciplined capital rotation across our Ventures portfolio and our strategy of making long-term investments in highly attractive businesses.”
What is Formula E?
Formula E is an electric world motor racing championship, which has gained massive interest in recent months and years due to its net-zero carbon footprint.
It’s a motorsport – think Formula One – only with fully electric cars.
In fact, Liberty Global also dubs it “the world’s fastest growing motorsport”, with almost 4 million fans worldwide. As such, it boasts a lot of the same points of appeal that traditional F1 does, with its city street racing and 16 races in some of the world’s most iconic cities, like Monaco, Rome and New York.
Current Formula E teams include big motorsport names Jaguar, Porsche, Maserati, McLaren, Nissan, DS, Mahindra, Andretti, Penske, Envision and ERT.
The sport recently received additional notoriety at the recent Monaco E-Prix, when Formula E revealed its new car for next season, the Gen3 Evo, which accelerates to 60mph in an incredible 1.82 seconds, around 30% faster than a current Formula 1 car.
Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) passing the baton over
This effectively marks a new age for Formula E, with a new controlling interest party in Liberty Global.
On this, Jeff Dodds, CEO of Formula E, commented:
First of all, I’d like to offer my thanks to Warner Bros. Discovery for the support and guidance they’ve provided Formula E over the past nine years. Liberty Global have a proven track record of building and growing businesses and their investment in us comes at the perfect time as we plan for a period of exponential growth. Having personally known and worked alongside the Liberty leadership team for over a decade, I’m thrilled to be able to further benefit from their expertise and their resources. This is a powerful vindication of the huge potential of our sport.”
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