The telecommunications business will see its ownership share of Formula E increase to 65%, and therefore become the controlling shareholder in the series, with the remaining 35% made up of minority shareholders.
Liberty Global, which initially invested in Formula E 10 years ago, will acquire the shares from Warner Bros Discovery and intends to complete the deal before the end of 2024, subject to regulatory approval.
The deal is independent from Liberty Media’s ownership of Formula 1 and planned future control of Dorna Sports which runs MotoGP and the World Superbike championship.
The announcement comes fresh from Formula E preparing for its 11th season with the 2024-25 calendar released on Tuesday, headlined by a Monaco double-header and a new Miami round on the 17-race schedule.
Jeff Dodds, Formula E CEO, has outlined the investment will be focused on the car technology, its expanding calendar and promotion of the series.
“The key areas of growth has been the technology of the car, the jump between generation 3.5 to 4 is significant, which is only two-and-a-half years away, it will be an incredible racing car,” Dodds said.
“The second area is where we race, where we take our show on the road and how we attract new audiences. This week we announced our [2024-25] calendar and that is our biggest-ever calendar and as fans of motorsport hopefully you can appreciate there is some iconic and bold moves in there.
Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3, Antonio Felix da Costa, Porsche, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3
Photo by: Andreas Beil
“The third thing is about noise. Working with talent, marketing, PR, social, digital activation to tell more people about the sport that we are custodians of and that has led us to grow our fanbase to almost 400 million.
“We are at the cusp of unlocking this exponential growth. Therefore having such a convicted investor like Liberty Global to come in behind us at a time we are growing our footprint and we are investing in technology and we are investing in noise generation is absolutely critical.”
“This is a pivotal moment for Formula E. This is, like every sports platform, a moment when Formula E needs capital and it needs conviction,” Mike Fries, Liberty Global CEO, added. “We are absolutely intending to provide both of those things and in this critical moment.”