Malone’s Liberty Global on Thursday announced a deal to buy out Warner Bros. Discovery’s stake in the Formula E racing circuit, which hosts electric car races in cities around the world.The deal will give Liberty 65 percent ownership of the circuit, making it the controlling shareholder. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Liberty previously owned about 35 percent of Formula E.The deal further expands Malone’s involvement in global racing, with the billionaire’s Liberty Media owning the increasingly popular Formula 1 circuit, and the company recently cutting a deal to acquire the motorcycle racing circuit MotoGP.Both the MotoGP deal and the Formula E deal are subject to regulatory approvals.Formula E has media deals in the U.S. with Paramount and Roku, with five races per year airing on CBS and streaming on Paramount+, with Roku streaming 11 races of its own on Roku Channel (its first exclusive sports rights deal).“We’re excited to take a controlling interest in Formula E, a business we first invested in nearly ten years ago,” said Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries. “Formula E has a massive potential for further growth while integrating the most advanced sustainability standards in sports. The investment continues our approach of disciplined capital rotation across our Ventures portfolio and our strategy of making long-term investments in highly attractive businesses.”“First of all I’d like to offer my thanks to Warner Bros. Discovery for the support and guidance they’ve provided Formula E over the past nine years,” added Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds. “Liberty Global have a proven track record of building and growing businesses and their investment in us comes at the perfect time as we plan for a period of exponential growth. Having personally known and worked alongside the Liberty leadership team for over a decade, I’m thrilled to be able to further benefit from their expertise and their resources. This is a powerful vindication of the huge potential of our sport.”
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