Saturday February 12th, 2000

Bernie Ecclestone will not be selling a stake in Formula One, which owns the broadcasting rights to Grand Prix motor races, to the German media group EM.TV, the news magazine Focus reported on Saturday.

Media reports last week said EM.TV & Merchandising AG chief executive Thomas Haffa was in advanced negotiations with Ecclestone on a deal and said that former Mercedes-Benz chairman Helmut Werner, an Ecclestone adviser, confirmed talks were going on.

"I am not selling to Mr Haffa," Ecclestone told Focus. "Haffa and I spoke a couple of weeks ago in Kitzbuehel for a half an hour. That was all."

Deutsche Bank's Morgan Grenfell Private Equity, which owns 12.5 percent of Ecclestone's Formula One Administration Ltd and whose option to acquire a further 37.5 percent expired last week, said it was not selling its stake to EM.TV.

"We spoke to Mr Haffa but we did not reach an agreement," MGPE chief Graham Hutton said.

Hutton said last week he still expected an initial public offering (IPO) for Formula One in two to three years time.

Focus reported that an American risk capital fund was a possible buyer.

Last October MGPE purchased its stake for $325 million, putting a value of $2.6 billion on the whole company.

Previous plans by Ecclestone for a bourse flotation stalled in the face of a European Commission inquiry into the way the sport is run and its television deals.

Formula One is reported as earning profits of around $200 million in 1999 on annual revenues of some $400 million, mostly from the sale of television rights.