Brit duo 'close' to Marussia buy-out Brit duo 'close' to Marussia buy-out | Planet F1 | Formula One | News, Standings, Results, Features, Video Marussia are still hoping that the team will be sold for an estimated £55million. According to the Daily Telegraph, Andy Webb, Marussia's chief executive, approached Sohi and Kaushal to try broker deal. And although close to an agreement, the two parties are 'around £10 million apart in their valuations' of the team. The Telegraph added that should the duo purchase the team, they will be taking on its debts which are about "£30 million". What's £10 millions among friends ...
I know; anyone can see it would be a bad investment. I don't know where these guys get their advice from...
But have you noticed how money disappears around F1, without even being seen? Genii-Lotus was supposed to receive plenty of money at the end of last year. Lopez kept telling everybody the cheque was in the post. Kimi left in disgust, and Boullier got a job at McLaren instead. Then Sauber announced last year some generous Russian investors, and nothing came out of that. Sauber was even supposed to collaborate with some high-tec aerospace company, in exchange for funds. Have they been conned? In its Midland days, the ex-Jordan team was also awash with Russian money, but suddenly it was for sale. There is trouble for Sahara Force India too, with some of the buisiness money being siphonned from India to Europe for support the team; the owner Malja (?) has appeared in court for tax evasion in his country. But the team has problems to pay its suppliers; so where is the money? I am not quite sure if the Caterham saga isn't on the same note. A lot of money left Malaysia to fund several racing ventures in Europe, but most of them go tothe wall, starved of cash. Has Tony Fernandez found a way to spirit his money away from Malaysia? I am sure they didn't burn the money...
Technically, the Marussia F1 team don't own the grid slot, Manor Grand Prix Racing Ltd do. In ways far too similar to Caterham's position, it all gets very complicated (From: Marussia and new F1 teams | joeblogsf1 ): "The racing team is a legal entity called Manor Grand Prix Racing Ltd. This belongs to a holding company called Manor Holdco Ltd, which in turn was owned by a Luxembourg firm called Marussia Lux SA, a subsidiary of Marussia Motors. It seems that this structure has now been changed with Manor Holdco having been passed to a new company, registered in Ireland, called Marussia Communications Ltd. Thus it is no longer directly linked to Marussia Motors but is still under the ownership of Cheglakov" (NOTE: Cheglakov is Andrej Cheglakov, owner of Marussia Motors company, a company that has recently been closed in Russia). Anyone buying the Marussia team would need to make sure absolutely, that they are actually buying the F1 entry/grid slot also - In this situation, it would be all too easy to end up buying a team that has nowhere to race!
Not so sure that's still the case. That article is dated in April, and a *lot* has happened since then..... We don't even really know who owns what & where these days - I thought the Russian road car guy was now out completely (?) That would be a little embarrassing!.... Suffice to say though that if Bernie wants you, he'll make it happen regardless. Cheers, Ian
There was something mentioned on SKY Sports News the other day that stated that the Marussia F1 teams grid slot was still owned by Manor Grand Prix Racing Ltd, as for the rest of who owns who/what, it gets far too complicated for Me! (Reading about it, when I got to the end of it all I could a mental voice-over in My head saying: "Confused? - You won't be after this episode of: Marussia F1!" ) It highlights though how easy it would be to pay a lot of money for something, only to find out that you haven't bought what you thought you had. As for Bernie, he doesn't necessarily want these small teams (and to be fair to him, he does warn them of the most likely outcome based on their budgets), but he'll happily take their money. At the end of the day, business is business!
If I understand it correctly the point that Marussia earned this year won't have real value until the start of the next. If they don't exist the point doesn't either.
Pretty much my understanding too. (Although, there's a little voice in my head saying Bernie Bucks are paid even later than that - like mid to end of the following season.) If someone could keep them going, I believe that's somewhere around a $30-40MM payout. Not enough, but a reasonable start. If anyone steps up, they've also got to be careful of name changes - Bernie likes 'consistency', and if you change names he may not pay you..... Remember the bru-ha-ha when Honda morphed into Brawn? I'm pretty sure he got paid from the previous season, but it took some fancy footwork IIRC. Cheers, Ian
I can't see how they are worth dime one. They are up to their asses in debt, the car sucks, they won't even make the next grid(if ever again) and they could face litigation regarding Jules to boot. It would seem the "value" declines with each passing day. Anyone with the cake to buy this mess would be better served to start from scratch. Any desired personnel or hard assets could be poached for pennies once the team folds. It does make you wonder where the money comes from.
They may be right.... IIRC, Krafty's BFF granted them the entry, again, under the guise of a cost cap. But then they didn't even get as far down the road on the project as our old buddy Windsor..... Surely, they must have sold the entry slot at some point? As you say, way too complicated for me! Fix't. Agreed, but he definitely wants to try and ensure full grids. Now, I believe his commitment is 'best efforts' to put at least 16 cars out there. That would be kind of sucky after 22, but many here claim those back 4-6 cars are a waste of time & space and wouldn't be missed anyway..... Bernie remains in the clear. At least for now. Cheers, Ian
I'm not sure if you remember this but I used to love it when I was a kid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BHQT3Omqtw He's always been a bit dismissive of the tail end teams (publicly at least), and suggested that they're taking up grid slot that could be filled by far more competitive cars (I seem to recall him saying recently that's it's probably for the best that Caterham and Marussia disappear as it would mean front running teams running a third competitive car each). Bernie knows that the likes of Caterham and Marussia do not bring in the crowds/TV viewers that Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren etc., do!
It costs 50 mil for a grid slot, so the team is essentially valued at 35mil. It would cost significantly more than that to build a car and team from scratch, so it's not a bad deal if you're set on joining f1 and are happy with the factory location and existing power unit setup. Quite a good deal actually, but there aren't a whole lot of people trying to get into f1 so they can burn a bunch of cash while running around at the back of the grid.
Sky just reported during practice-1 that Marussia have ceased trading. Personally I don't think they, along with Caterham and HRT should ever have been allowed into F1 in the first place. *** EDIT *** Now official from the administrator that the team will be wound up and the employees made redundant.
