Russian Buy-out Of The Nürburgring...

[Dackelone]

Jan 18th, 2016 - Nürburgring...


Nürburgring announced today that Getspeed and CNG’s “differences and disputes have been settled”, and that Getspeed’s share in the track has been “significantly reduced”.

But what does that actually mean?

Once upon a time, the Nürburgring was owned and operated by the state, in much the same way as any important, historical, money-making state attraction for the better part of a century. It had a budget, it spent the budget, the region prospered, the region was taxed. And repeat.

Then it overspent the budget. Then the budget went out of control, some bad men infiltrated the processes and siphoned money out. Private investment turned out to be public money going around in circles, and people went to prison while others fled to exile. And all that money (as much as €500m, if you can believe it) was squandered, pinched and generally thrown into a black hole.

So the government did what governments in the 21st century are surprisingly good at: they sold the €500m investment for pennies on the pound. The initial press release promised €100m back in the state coffers, though who believed it, we’re not sure. In the badly publicised and opaque sale that followed, there was only one real promise made by the liquidators and the state. “We’re not going to sell it to a Russian Oligarch or Arabian Sheikh.”

In fact they sold it to Capricorn who was widely known to be overstretched and under-financed, with a questionable letter of credit (that wasn’t a letter of credit at all). This unpalatable foul taste was tempered by the inclusion of local-boy-done-good Adam Osieka and Getspeed. Or so the state thought. Getspeed would be a minority shareholder with executive powers and top-wheelman and up’n’coming business leader Adam would become the CEO.

Unfortunately, the newly formed Capricorn Nürburgring GmbH were fluid for only a few months, and (out of state control and the public eye) CNG was sold overnight to a shell company owned by…. Russian Oligarch Viktor Kharitonin!

So the Russian owned most of the track, but local boys Getspeed still had a firm grip on the keys…

Until Today…
With Getspeed’s share reduced from a presumed 80% to something thought to be less than 5%, Viktor’s powergrab seems complete.

Because even though Getspeed only had 20%, they still had an executive veto on any operational matters. No doubt the source of the differences and disputes referenced to above.

The ‘deal’ that pushed/pulled Getspeed out of their spiritual home (I’m not fluffing when I say that Adam is one of the biggest Nordschleife fans here) is not a public one. I’m sure it’s 100% legitimate.

It’s the German “Business Week” magazine that’s reporting the less than 5% figure, and they’ve proven to be accurate many times before.

The Nürburgring land remains property of the NBR trust, but CNG (and the Russian shell company) do now hold the keys, the lease and are answerable to only German law, EU law and their own consciences. Ja Zum Nürburgring state the €45m cash has yet to be paid.

Adam steps out of the mess completely, and will no doubt be concentrating on the Getspeed racing and tuning business 100% from now on. His CNG counterpart, Carsten Schumacher, has not been mentioned and wasn’t available for comment. As of today, he’s in sole command. Until he gets a phonecall from Viktor, maybe…


What does this mean for the future? Business as normal, we guess. Major events are all contracted for 1-3 years at least. The ‘Ring is profitable again (they said so on January 1st this year) so hopefully nothing much. For now.




source: Dale's BtG website...

http://www.bridgetogantry.com/russia...most-complete/