Liberty started investing in Formula E a decade ago when the race series first emerged
Telecom provider Liberty Global is taking a majority stake in electric car racing series Formula E, by acquiring shares held by Warner Bros. Discovery.
Liberty first put money into Formula E ten years ago, as the series first emerged. The share purchase from Warner Bros. Discovery will bring its investment to a 65% controlling stake in Formula E. Formula E is in its 10th season of all-electric city street racing, with 16 races across four continents; its inaugural racing championship was held in Beijing in 2014. The series has 11 teams, including Jaguar, Porsche, Maserati, McLaren, Nissan, DS, Mahindra, Andretti, Penske, Envision and ERT.
“We’re excited to take a controlling interest in Formula E, a business we first invested in nearly ten years ago. Formula E has a massive potential for further growth while integrating the most advanced sustainability standards in sports,” said Mike Fries, CEO, of Liberty Global. “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.”
Jeff Dodds, CEO of Formula E, said that Liberty has 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.”
Liberty Global’s other recent acquisitions have been much more traditional, telecom investments. The company purchased an “opportunistic” 5% stake in Vodafone in early 2023 and squeezed out other stakeholders to take full ownership of Belgian operator Telenet in late 2023, after being a majority stakeholder in the latter since 2007. Liberty also does have existing electrification-related businesses in its portfolio, which include a clean energy infrastructure business for U.K. homes and enterprises, and a joint venture which operates electric vehicle charge points.
