The Big E back in Court!

[Dixie Flatline]

Bernie Ecclestone and his holding company, Bambino Holdings, were back in Court on Monday last as the trial of the substantive issues to do with the control of Formula One started in England's High Court.

According to Counsel for the plaintiff banks, Elizabeth Jones QC, "our action concerns the identity of the directors of the company and a declaration that certain persons are and certain persons are not directors."

On behalf of her clients, Ms Jones QC sought summary judgment from his Lordship, Mr Justice Andrew Park, against Bambino Holdings on the grounds that Mr E's company had no real prospects of defending the claim. She claimed that Bambino, despite owning 25% of SLEC, as opposed to the banks' 75% stake, which in turn owns Formula One Holdings, "had engineered control of the operating companies within the group through various corporate steps taken in the summer of 2002."

She also said, "The bottom line was that Kirch bought three sets of 25% holdings in SLEC for around $2.2 billion. That money was loaned by JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers, and Bayerische Landesbank. The evidence suggests that all they'd purchasd were three minority stakes, plus the rights to see the accounts, attend board meetings, and receive 75% of the income from the business. If there was any."

Apparently the dispute is over the interpretation of a contract signed by the shareholders of SLEC Holdings Ltd as well as the validity of the appointment of two directors to the board of Formula One Holdings, namely, Luc Argand and Emmanuelle Argand-Rey.

The story may be found through the the Guardian and UK Bloomberg.

His Lordship has reserved his decision to later in the year.

[Dixie Flatline]

For those that care, PlanetF1.com has put forward a "beginner's guide" to the conflict between Bernie and the banks, including a potted history of the dealings between Bambino Holdings, SLEC, Kirch and the banks.

[RWC]

I'll have to check it out sometime
The more recent stuff doesn't interest me much but i wonder if the say much about the first fight for control over f1 back in the early nineties.
It's not only recently that bernie has been robbing the sport

[Kicking-back]

Bernie "robbing the sport"?

Surely he's reaping the rewards of being the only one prepared to gamble his own money on proper promotion back in the 70s...

[Adam43]

Originally posted by RWC
It's not only recently that bernie has been robbing the sport

Well maybe he'll lose this case and then the banks will have control. I've always thought that financial institutions the ideal bosses of F1

[Kicking-back]

God forbid...

[Dixie Flatline]

For those interested in the politics behind Formula One, I would recommend the Piranha Club and also The Powerbrokers by Alan Henry, which takes an in-depth look at the history of Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley.

Both those men are very astute businessmen and have reaped the rewards of being savvy and determined enough to make Formula One the "sport" it is today.

Should the banks win, I have an inkling, a bit of a feeling, that Bernie will offer them a way of recouping their money rather than being stuck in control of a sport they likely do not understand.

[RWC]

There is no other sport that i know of where the fans are so head-in-the-sand.Get a grip guys!

[Dixie Flatline]

Originally posted by RWC
I'll have to check it out sometime
The more recent stuff doesn't interest me much but i wonder if the say much about the first fight for control over f1 back in the early nineties.
It's not only recently that bernie has been robbing the sport

Don't forget the FISA/FOCA wars of the 80s for the control of Formula One! One Bernard Charles Ecclestone was in charge of FOCA (Formula One Constructors' Association) and bumped heads with Jean-Marie Balestre over the financial control of the sport. I don't recall the whole story now, but it's detailed in both the books I mentioned in my previous post, but the long and the short of it is that Ecclestone emerged triumphant, basically on the strategy that without the teams, their cars and their drivers, the sport would be nothing, and he had all those in his pocket.

[rayzor]

I am two thirds of the way through a book called BERNIE'S GAME written by TERRY LOVELL. Right from his first deal he has walked on people. It tells of every single deal, he's even held governments to ransom.
It is ubelievable what he has got up to, it's a MUST read.

[Adam43]

Yet he is one of the best people to work for...

[Kicking-back]

Bernie's a succesful businessman.

A book with negative stores about him will always be of more interest to people than one singing his praises.

I'd take it with a pinch of salt.