CVC May Revive Formula One Singapore IPO

By P.R. VENKAT And ISABELLA STEGER

Private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners is looking into reviving its plans to list motor racing franchise Formula One Group in Singapore later this year, after pulling a $2.5 billion initial public offering last year because of weak markets, people with knowledge of the deal said Tuesday.

A U.S. listing is also one of the options being considered, one of the people said, though that is less likely due to the relative lack of awareness of the sport there, unlike in Singapore, which has been hosting Grand Prix racing since 2008.

Manchester United,

the U.K. soccer team, had also mulled a listing in Singapore last year, but ended up going public in New York, raising $200 million. Manchester United PLC’s shares are up more than 30% since it went public.

Formula One was planning to structure its Singapore IPO in the form of a stapled security, which includes a sale of both shares and loan notes. That would help keep the tax bill low, as the proceeds raised from the sale of loan notes would be taxed at a lower rate than those raised from shares.

There are no plans to revise the structure of the IPO, said one of the people with knowledge of the deal.

But CVC, which invested in Formula One in 2006, is under no pressure to exit its investment after it sold stakes to institutional investors ahead of the planned IPO last year, cutting its stake to around 35% from 63%. The institutional investors include Waddell Reed Financial Inc.,

Norges Bank Investment Management and BlackRock Inc.

In March last year, CVC also refinanced the acquisition loan used to fund its buyout of Formula One, allowing Formula One to pay out about $700 million to its owners.

Still, the chances of a listing in Singapore or New York hinge on the outcome of an investigation of Formula One Chief Executive Bernie Ecclestone. He was placed under investigation in Germany after a former German banking executive was sentenced to more than eight years in prison after allegedly receiving bribes from Mr. Ecclestone in connection with a 2005 agreement to sell a stake in the company.

Mr. Ecclestone, who built Formula One into a lucrative global business from the late 1970s, hasn’t been charged and has denied wrongdoing.

Mr. Ecclestone acknowledged last year in court that he paid the banker, Gerhard Gribkowsky, but said it was because he felt he was being blackmailed.

People familiar with the case say the overhang of the investigation is one factor behind the delay of the IPO.

Write to P.R. Venkat at venkat.pr@dowjones.com and Isabella Steger at isabella.steger@wsj.com

CVC May Revive Formula One Singapore IPO