In 1974, the
Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA) was founded in order to increase commercial organisation of Formula One for the benefit of the racing teams. In 1978, Bernie Ecclestone became the executive of FOCA, and fought the
Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA)
for control of the commercial rights of F1. Disputes were settled by March 1981 when the
Concorde Agreement gave FOCA the right to negotiate TV contracts. Under previous arrangements, TV contracts were risky and not very lucrative. When the second Concorde Agreement was agreed in 1987, Ecclestone ceased being a team owner and established
Formula One Promotions and Administration (FOPA) to manage TV rights for the teams. FOPA would later become known as
Formula One Management (FOM). FOPA received 49% of TV revenues: 1% went to the teams, and 50% to the FIA. FOPA also received all the fees paid by promoters and paid prize money to the teams. The third Concorde Agreement was signed in 1992. When the fourth Concorde Agreement was signed in 1995, the FIA decided to grant the commercial rights of F1 to Formula One Administration (managed by FOM) for a 14-year period. In exchange, Ecclestone would provide an annual payment. With FOM having exclusive rights to popular team names like
McLaren,
Williams, and
Tyrrell, the aforementioned teams protested by rejecting the following Concorde Agreement in 1997. A compromise was reached and a new Concorde Agreement was signed by all teams in 1998. McLaren, Williams,
Ferrari and
Renault formed GPWC Holdings, and threatened to form a rival racing franchise in 2008 when their contracts ended in 2007.
Ecclestone sells shares of F1 SLEC Holdings was created as the holding company of the Formula One companies in 1996 when Ecclestone transferred his ownership of Formula One businesses to his wife,
Slavica, in preparation for a 1997
flotation of the group. In June 1999, the
European Commission announced it would investigate the FIA, Formula One Administration (FOA) and
International Sportsworld Communicators for abusing dominant position and restricting competition. ISC, owned by Ecclestone, had signed a 14-year agreement with the FIA in 1996 for the exclusive broadcasting rights for 18 FIA championships. In October 1999,
Morgan Grenfell Private Equity (MGPE) acquired 12.5% of SLEC for £234 million. In February 2000,
Hellman and Friedman purchased a 37.5% share of SLEC for £625 million, and combined its share with that of MGPE to form Speed Investments, which had a combined holding of 50% of SLEC. On 22 March 2000, German media company
EM.TV & Merchandising purchased Speed Investments for £1.1 billion. EM.TV's acquisitions caused it financial difficulties; following its announcement that its 2000 earnings would be below expectations and it was struggling with its debts, the share price dropped 90%. In February, the
Kirch Group agreed to rescue EM.TV in return for a stake in the company and control of Speed Investments. To raise Speed Investments' share of SLEC to 75% Kirch borrowed €1.6 billion, €1 billion from
Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB) and the rest from
Lehman Brothers and
JPMorgan Chase. Kirch's involvement raised concerns among the major automobile manufacturers who participate in Formula One;
BMW,
DaimlerChrysler,
Fiat,
Ford, and
Renault formed GPWC Holding BV to secure better representation of the manufacturers in F1, improved financial conditions for the teams, stability for the championship, and maintenance of free-to-air television coverage. However, Ecclestone insisted that the verdict - seen almost universally as a legal blow to his control of Formula One - would mean "nothing at all". He stated his intention to appeal the decision. The following day, at a meeting of team bosses at
Heathrow Airport, Ecclestone offered the teams a total of £260 million over three years in return for unanimous renewal of the
Concorde Agreement, which was due to expire in 2008. Weeks later, Gerhard Gribkowsky, a board member of BayernLB, and the chairman of SLEC, stated that the banks had no intention to remove Ecclestone from his position of control.
CVC acquisition In November 2005,
CVC Capital Partners announced it was to acquire the 25% and 48% shares of Bambino and BayernLB in SLEC, and acquired the shares of JPMorgan Chase in December 2005. This deal was given approval by the
European Commission on 21 March 2006 and finalised on 28 March. Ecclestone used the proceeds of the sale of Bambino Holdings' share to reinvest in the company to give the Ecclestone family a 13.8% stake in the holding company Alpha Prema. On 30 March 2006, CVC purchased the 14.1% share of SLEC held by Lehman Brothers to give CVC a majority ownership in the Formula One Group with 63.4%, The deputy team principal of
Force India,
Bob Fernley, accused CVC of "raping the sport" during the period of its involvement in Formula One. The Formula One Group planned an
initial public offering on the
Singapore Stock Exchange in June 2012, valuing the company at $10 billion. Up to 30% of the company would be listed, with most of the stock coming from the shareholding owned by the creditors of the bankrupt Lehman Brothers. CVC sold part of its stake in the company to three investment companies:
Waddell & Reed,
BlackRock and
Norges Bank; reducing its holding to 35.5%, and making Waddell & Reed the second-biggest shareholder. The planned flotation was kept on hold throughout 2012,
Liberty acquisition In late 2016,
Liberty Media agreed to buy controlling interest in the Formula One Group for $4.4 billion (£3.3 billion). The deal was approved by regulators and completed on 23 January 2017. On 28 November 2022, Brawn confirmed he was retiring from F1. The Formula One Group is listed in the
Nasdaq as a
tracking stock under the ticker FWONA and FWONK. Liberty Media acquired the majority of
Dorna Sports and with it, the commercial rights of
MotoGP and
Superbike World Championship in 2025 and placed it into the Formula One Group. == Group companies ==