F1 to proceed with float in October – source
Late last year, Sylt said CVC had decided to continue to delay the planned Singapore floatation until at least 2014.
But in a new report for the Telegraph, he quotes a 'senior source' as saying CVC is now eyeing October, when it hopes the European financial crisis and the Gribkowsky corruption affair in Germany will be resolved.
"In October this year, we ought to be able to look at the following year and say that most of next year's earnings are under contract, the market is in a very good place and Germany is now clear," said the source.
He added that meant: “Off we go in October this year. If you think about it, once Germany is clear, the F1 IPO could be as simple as saying 'we did what we said we would do, meaning we delivered on our numbers, Germany cleared itself up, the business went to Singapore and we stand behind everything we told you last year in terms of earnings forecasts’. That’s quite a powerful story."
The IPO was expected to put a $10bn value on F1 last year and the CVC source said the figure had accelerated due to the upswing in the economy. “The market has re-rated the comparables, like Discovery Channel and others, from 15 times to 20 times price/earnings. So as a consequence the business is actually worth a lot more than it was last year."