Spyker named as potential buyers of Midland F1 team

[FourWheelDrift]

Crash.net said:

Dutch sportscar brand Spyker have become the latest name to enter the ring of potential buyers for the MF1 Racing team after the manufacturer confirmed speculation they are in talks about consuming the team for 2007.

Rumours of current owner Alec Schnaider's determination to offload the struggling team he bought in 2005 when it was Jordan Grand Prix are nothing new, with various Dutch consortiums seemingly favourite to clinch the deal, although this speculation is arguably the most serious yet.

Internet company Lost Boys has been the name most linked to MF1 over the previous months, with owner Michiel Mol having opened talks with Schnaider over a possible sale.

Furthermore, Mol's interests stretch into the motor industry where he is currently in the process of purchasing Holland's only current home grown manufacturer, Spyker, a brand that has been making waves in the FIA GT and Le Mans Series with its C8 sportscar.

With Mol's links with MF1 Racing and his determination to expand Spyker's global awareness, he released a statement on the manufacturers' website insisting the deal is set to go ahead, albeit according to various conditions.

"Spyker Cars NV and the M-Consortium confirm that currently negotiations are taking place with the owner of Midland F1 with respect to a possible acquisition by Spyker of the Midland F1 team.

"The outcome of the negotiations is still depending on a number of conditions and circumstances. In the event that such acquisition would materialize, Spyker will consider a share issue to (partially) finance the transaction. M-Consortium has expressed its willingness to subscribe to this issue for a large part.

"At the appropriate time further announcements will be made. In any event the acquisition will be subject to Spyker Shareholders' and Supervisory Board approval."

The brand's governing body president Victor Muller also confirmed to BNR Nieuwsradio the rumours of their involvement in buying a significant stake in MF1 with a possible view to entering in 2007, citing it as the most profitable form of advertising behind football.

"Formula 1 is for companies such as Spyker an important way to attract attention," he said. "It is after the WK football without doubt the best manner products promote."

"Formula 1 is no longer heavily loss-making, because TV coverage is divided more evenly for the teams. In the old days, a team got that invested 500 million euros got 80 per cent of TV coverage, but that will change with the new legislation. As from 2008, smaller teams such as Midland more possibilities."

Should Spyker clinch a deal with MF1 and badge the cars as their own, it will effectively see them become the first manufacturer backed team to enter Formula One since Toyota in 2002. They are unlikely to develop their own engines though, with power set to come from Cosworth.

Formula One proves massively popular in Holland, despite not hosting a grand prix for twenty years. Nonetheless, should the deal come to fruition, current MF1 pilot and national hero Christijan Albers is more than likely to retain his seat, with several names linked to the remaining position, not least MF1 test drivers Markus Winkelhock and Adrian Sutil.

[deevlash]

I wonder what the interiors of those will be like! seems a bit wierd to me, arent Spyker losing money just now?

[FourWheelDrift]

deevlash said:

I wonder what the interiors of those will be like! seems a bit wierd to me, arent Spyker losing money just now?

Bit more info on the background

news said:

Further information is emerging about Spyker which helps to explain the interest in Formula 1. Spyker is a very small car company but it is growing fast. In 2005 it made a total of just 48 cars. That was three times the figure of 2004 and it is expected that the firm will make more than 100 this year. The company had sales of $6.8m in 2005, up from $5m in 2004. The company made a loss of $6.6m in 2004 but thar was reduced to just $3.7m last year. New money arrived from investors which enabled the development of new models and an increase in staff from 60 people in 2004 to 91 in 2005 and by the end of last year the firm had 27 dealers around the world. The company sells 40% of the cars in America, 27% in Europe but only 14% in both the Middle East and in China. Thus promoting sales in these regions (the classic F1 new markets) is a key goal for the company.

Money has been pouring into Spyker from the Middle East with venture capital company MerchantBridge buying 15% of the shares in September 2005 and Mubadala Investments buying 17% later that year. MerchantBridge is interesting because one of its shareholders is Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdallah Al-Khalifa, a major player in the Bahrain royal family. Mubadala is owned by the Abu Dhabi government and also owns a five percent share of Ferrari.

According to our sources in Holland, the plan now is for Spyker to issue more shares to fund the purchase of the Midland F1 team, with Michiel Mol's consortium M Management buying a percentage of these.

Spyker chairman Victor Muller says that F1 is now a much more interesting business because of the recent financial settlements and the new rules in 2008 as there will be more money available to the teams from TV rights and the teams will be able to buy cars and engines.