The team was led by partner Charles Hayes with support from partner Valerie Ford Jacob in New York.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (‘Freshfields’) has advised Formula One Group (‘F1’) and CVC Capital Partners (‘CVC’) on the sale of F1 to Liberty Media. CVC is one of the world’s leading private equity and investment advisory firms.  Liberty Media is a US-based media and entertainment company.

Liberty Media owns interests in a broad range of media, communications and entertainment businesses.  Those interests are attributed to three tracking stock groups:  the Liberty SiriusXM Group, the Liberty Braves Group, and the Liberty Media Group.  The consideration comprises cash and newly issued shares in the Liberty Media Group tracking stock (LMCK) and a debt instrument exchangeable into shares of LMCK.  The transaction price represents an enterprise value for F1 of $8.0 billion and an equity value of $4.4 billion.

With Freshfields’ global market-leading expertise, the firm was able to showcase the strength of its ‘one firm’ approach across multiple jurisdictions, enabling the team to help deliver this complex and high profile transaction. 

The Freshfields team was led by partner Charles Hayes with support from partner Valerie Ford Jacob in New York.  Charles was elected to the partnership in May 2016.  He has advised CVC on various matters, including most recently on its acquisition of Sky Bet from Sky, its acquisition of the Paroc Group, its acquisition of Ahlsell and its investment in and exit from Avolon.