A Liberty Media’s acquisition of MotoGP causing inconvenience to Alejandro Agag, the president Formula E. The executive asked the European Commission to carefully investigate the deal.
In April, the North American company bought 86% of the shares MotoGP of €4.2 billion. Agag told the Financial Times newspaper that Freedom Mediabecause he is also the owner formula 1will have overwhelming power in negotiating broadcast rights if the deal is reached, something that is expected to happen later this year.
“From a competition law perspective, I think there are significant challenges. The impact that this merger will have on the resulting entity in terms of negotiations with broadcasters will be very significant and I think the European Commission will be looking at this deal very carefully,” the executive said.
Despite being asked, Agag did not ask for the merger to be canceled. The president of the electric car category only believes that there needs to be a solution to ensure healthy competition in the market.
“We will not try to sell a product in the TV market at the same time. There is a growing audiovisual entertainment market far beyond sport and this transaction will enhance MotoGP’s ability to compete in this market. We are confident that the European Commission will understand the dynamic nature of the market and approve the transaction,” Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei previously told the Financial Times.
Agag’s placement comes despite Formula E’s major shareholder Liberty Global’s ties to Liberty Media. Although separate companies, both have a major stake in billionaire John Malone.
This is not the first time a merger like this has happened between F1 and MotoGP. Before Liberty Media, F1 was owned by CVC Capital Partners. When it acquired the category, the company was forced to sell MotoGP due to a decision by the European Union’s competition regulator.
