Ropes & Gray Advises Liberty Global on Acquisition of Formula E Stake From Warner Bros. Discovery

In The News
June 14, 2024

Ropes & Gray has advised Liberty Global on its acquisition of shares held by Warner Bros. Discovery in the electric car racing series Formula E.

The acquisition of shares held by Warner Bros. Discovery will, on completion, bring Liberty Global’s total share of ownership in Formula E to 65% and mean that Liberty Global will take a controlling interest in the world’s fastest growing motorsport.

Formula E is the only FIA sanctioned electric world motor racing championship, the world’s No.1 rated ESG sport and the only net zero carbon sport from inception. In its 10th season of all-electric city street racing, the Formula E Championship boasts one of the best sporting calendars in the world, with 16 races in some of the world’s most iconic cities, covering four continents.

Now, with almost 400m fans around the world, 11 teams and 22 drivers on the grid, Formula E has become a destination for the world’s best motorsport teams and talent. Current teams include Jaguar, Porsche, Maserati, McLaren, Nissan, DS, Mahindra, Andretti, Penske, Envision and ERT. At the recent Monaco E-Prix, Formula E revealed its new car for next season, the Gen3 Evo, which accelerates to 60mph in an incredible 1.82 seconds, around 30% faster than a current Formula 1 car.

The Ropes & Gray team was led by private equity transactions partner Angela Becker and included private equity transactions partners Dan Oates and Oliver Nip, private equity transactions associates Phoebe Glenister-So, Lucy Taylor and Lan Jiangzhou; finance partner Alex Robb and associates Edward Olsen and Adjoa Kwarteng; antitrust partner Ruchit Patel and counsel Dervla Broderick; and tax partner Andrew Howard.