Liverpool Owner Fenway Sports Group Is Reportedly in Talks to Buy a Majority Stake in the Cadillac F1 Team
The potential deal would value the team at more than $2 billion USD after only one season on the grid.
Summary
Fenway Sports Group is negotiating a potential £2bn-plus takeover of the Cadillac Formula One team
The move follows FSG's partial sale of Liverpool to a consortium including Jeff Bezos
Cadillac co-owner Mark Walter is currently offloading sporting assets amid US federal investigations
Fenway Sports Group (FSG) is reportedly in talks to acquire a majority stake in the Cadillac Formula One team, a blockbuster move that would command a price tag of more than £2bn. The high-stakes acquisition targets a franchise that only entered the grid this year as a joint venture between General Motors and Mark Walter’s TWG Global. While TWG has firmly denied that any sale of the racing outfit is imminent, FSG stands as just one of several heavy-hitting interested parties currently holding discussions about taking over the team. Representatives for FSG have declined to comment on their investment plans. The potential acquisition signals a massive shift in global sports equity, driven by F1’s remarkable commercial growth across the United States over the last decade. Since the racing series was bought by Liberty Media in 2017, the sport’s annual revenue has more than doubled to $4 billion USD.
The framework for this multi-billion-pound transaction stems directly from a broader liquidation of assets by Mark Walter. Walter is actively shedding major sports properties amid allegations of insurance fraud, and is currently under investigation by the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission over alleged fraud involving the management of funds at Delaware Life, Clear Spring and EquiTrust. TWG has stated unequivocally that there has been no fraud, yet the firm continues to rapidly reshape its portfolio. The conglomerate already sold off its controlling interest in the Los Angeles Lakers and a 13% stake in Chelsea this past summer, and is currently looking to sell the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. Walter, who remains the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, insists that the MLB franchise will not be sold. Sportico previously reported that Walter values his specific shareholding in the Cadillac team at approximately £2.24 billion GBP, though the exact sizes of TWG’s and General Motors’ respective stakes have never been made public.
Financing a £2 billion GBP F1 entry leverages strategic liquidity generated from FSG’s other heavyweight properties. The Boston-based conglomerate recently cashed in on Liverpool, selling a 38% stake this summer to a powerhouse consortium featuring Jeff Bezos and Eduardo Saverin. That partial sale rocketed the Premier League club’s valuation to a staggering £5.5bn, presenting FSG with a monumental profit after they originally paid just £300m for the club in 2010. The consortium that purchased the stake has also secured an option to complete a full takeover of Liverpool before August 2027. FSG’s current sporting investments already span multiple disciplines, including majority stakes in the Boston Red Sox and the Pittsburgh Penguins, alongside a proven history in motorsport through a 50% stake in the Nascar team RFK Racing.
Despite the immense financial valuation attached to the Cadillac F1 team, the racing outfit has endured a brutal initiation on the track. The team currently sits at the absolute bottom of the constructors’ championship in their debut season and has yet to win a single point. If successful, buying out a struggling constructor from a motivated seller fundamentally reorients FSG’s empire toward F1’s soaring American market, swapping legacy European football equity to capitalize on a domestic racing brand.
