Start of Bernie Ecclestone’s trial in London

These hearings are related to a complaint filed in August 2011 by the German media group, Constantin Medien. The group had used information disclosed during the trial of the German banker Gehrard Gribkowsky to support its claim for damages in the sale of F1 shares to CVC Capital.

Thus, the main accusation against Bernie Ecclestone is the payment of $44 million to the former banker of BayernLB, for which the latter was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. The entire issue revolves around the interpretation of this payment: Constantin Medien is convinced that it is a bribe intended to lower the sale price and favor CVC Capital in the sale process, whereas, for Bernie Ecclestone, it is merely a payment made to prevent the German banker from making false statements to the British tax authorities.

Constantin Medien is therefore demanding 170 million dollars in damages today as part of this sale. Indeed, Constantin Medien sold 16.7% of F1 to BayernLB for 8.5 million euros in 2003. Financially pressured, the group agreed to sell at a loss but implemented a clause for the resale by the German bank: 10% of this resale would come to them if the bank managed to sell this stake for more than 1.1 billion dollars. However, CVC Capital only paid “only” 814 million dollars, which excluded Constantin Medien from the transaction.

Bernie Ecclestone thus finds himself at the center of the complaint, along with his former lawyer, Stephen Mullens, his trust Bambino Holdings, and Gerhard Gribkowsky. Philip Marshall, the lawyer for Constantin Medien, stated: « We believe that the transaction was strongly tilted in favor of Mr. Ecclestone and Bambino and strongly against BayernLB and those involved in this sale. »

But this is far from the only judicial procedure the octogenarian has to face. He has also been indicted by the Munich prosecutor’s office and is the target of a lawsuit by the Bluewaters investment fund in New York. As if that weren’t enough, Swiss authorities announced today that they will also open an investigation into this sale to ensure that Swiss law has not been violated.

Under these conditions, CVC Capital’s plans to launch F1 on the stock market seem increasingly compromised. This could strengthen the investment fund’s desire to finalize the acquisition of the specialized agency IMG in order to “dissolve” F1 into it and thus realize its added value.

With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr