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Bridgepoint rejected a bid from Ari Emanuel’s TKO Group for MotoGP despite it being worth €200mn more than what Formula One-owner Liberty Media offered for the motorcycle series.
The private equity firm this week agreed a sale of Dorna Sports, which owns MotoGP, to Liberty for €4.2bn including debt.
“We know that our bid was worth €200mn more than the Liberty bid,” Emanuel told the Financial Times, adding that he did not understand why Bridgepoint had rejected the higher offer.
Bridgepoint did not dispute the value of the TKO bid and declined to comment, but a person close to the deal said Emanuel and TKO were “culturally not a good fit”.
A person close to TKO hit back, saying that in rejecting the higher offer Bridgepoint had “failed in its fiduciary duty not only to its LPs [limited partners] but to its shareholders in the public market”.
The row highlights the high stakes among a coterie of investors seeking to reshape global sports. By buying MotoGP, Liberty will unite the world’s two leading motorsport contests under one roof.
However, the acquisition may attract regulatory scrutiny. The European Commission ruled in 2006 that F1 and MotoGP could not be owned by the same company over concerns that broadcasters would be disadvantaged in negotiations over screening events. TKO owns the Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Wrestling Entertainment.
Liberty’s chief executive Greg Maffei told the FT this week that he was “very confident” the deal would be approved by competition authorities. This was because the media market had evolved since 2006 and because Liberty intended to keep MotoGP as a separate asset, he added.
Liberty is seeking to boost MotoGP’s audience in the US and Latin America, where it has broadened the audience for F1 beyond its traditional European markets.
“We’re going to keep the company independent,” Maffei said. “We’re certainly not going to be trying to merge and sell the product in the TV market as one. ”
Emanuel’s interest in MotoGP came as he unveiled plans to take his Endeavor Group private at a value of $13bn.
US buyout firm Silver Lake has agreed to buy Endeavor for $27.5 a share in cash for the owner of the WME talent group and IMG, the global sports marketing company. TKO will continue to operate as a public company.
Netflix recently agreed a 10-year deal worth $5bn to screen WWE’s Raw programme, in its biggest move yet into streaming live entertainment.
