- JPMorgan Chase & Co brought on board last year to explore a potential sale
- New owners could drive significant revenue from race in US debuting next year
Private equity firm EQT Partners is weighing up a UK£500 million (US$675.8 million) takeover bid for WRC Promoter, the commercial rights holder of the World Rally Championship (WRC), according to Sky News.
The report says EQT is one of a number of firms preparing an offer for the rallying series which, as was first reported by Reuters, has been exploring a sale since the middle of last year, when JPMorgan Chase & Co were appointed to prepare the organisation for a possible sale.
WRC Promoter is currently owned by Austrian energy drinks giant Red Bull and German investment company KW 25. A spokesperson for WRC declined to comment on the rumours of a potential sale.
Stockholm-based EQT has not previously actively invested in sports properties but this strategy has recently started to change. It invested US$25 million into Baller League, the new creator-led six-a-side soccer competition, in November last year. Prior to this, it unsuccessfully bid for a minority stake in the Bundesliga’s media rights business.
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A new owner could help to expand WRC’s global reach at a time where it has largely reached capacity on its schedule.
Event director Simon Larkin previously told BlackBook Motorsport that the current 14-race calendar is one race short of the maximum length the series would consider but that “it is not a priority for [WRC] to expand for the sake of it”.
It is already known that the US will make an appearance on the schedule in 2026, which could also feature a potential return to Ireland for the first time since 2009 – although Larkin recently poured cold water on any hopes for additional new races next season.
A WRC event in the US could provide the perfect foundation for an external investor to come onboard and drive revenue in a new market.
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