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And further citation by MotorSportsTalk are:gpupdate.net wrote:Bernie Ecclestone's legal troubles have taken another turn after the Formula One Group and owners CVC were requested by a London court to release hundreds of documents over the sale of Formula 1 in 2005, according to the Financial Times.
Ecclestone was indicted by German prosecutors for alleged bribery last month, the 82-year-old and Bambino, his family trust, having sent $44 million (£29 million) to banker Gerhard Gribkowsky to ensure the sale of BayernLB's shares to CVC.
Meanwhile, German media group Constantin Medien is seeking damages of at least $171m (£111 million), arguing that BayernLB's 47 percent stake was undervalued when it was sold to CVC. The company, which claims it would have paid more and believes it has missed out on revenue, has demanded access to documents related to the sale, a request that has since been accepted and passed by the court.
Ecclestone is expected to be called as a witness in the case, along with Duncan Llowarch, the Chief Financial Officer of Formula 1. The lawsuit will get underway in London on October 28, with proceedings expected to run for around six weeks.
The company that claims to have put in a higher bid would be Bluewater from New York City. But Bluewater is not involved in the Constantin Medien law suit. GPUpdate.net seems to be reporting the wrong thing there. A pitty that the FT required a subscription and one has to learn everything from secondary sources.CVC will have to hand over due diligence reports on F1, items from a letter Bernie Ecclestone sent to CVC about F1′s income, CVC application for a loan, minutes of meetings, financial modeling and tax information.
It is a nice turn of events for them that the high court is going to release all this evidence to Constantin. One assumes that Peter Knoll - the judge in Germany - will have access to them also. Bluewater also will have some interest in the proceedings of the bribery case against Ecclestone. I'm pretty sure one way or the other Knoll will get the Constantine media data plus a ton of stuff from Bluewater on top. By the end of the year Bernie could be history in F1.FT according to Crash.net wrote:At a disclosure hearing in London last month, Mr Justice Vos told lawyers for FOG and CVC their clients must release a number of documents to Constantin Medien. Lawyers for all parties received transcripts of the proceedings last week and are awaiting the judge's final written judgment about what has to be disclosed. The stake was sold for $820m when CVC completed the purchase of F1 in April 2006. But CVC's refinancing of F1 a year later implied a valuation of the stake of $2.8bn. In the disclosure hearing before Mr Justice Vos, Peters and Peters, Constantin Medien's lawyers, argued there was no proper valuation and marketing of the BayernLB stake before the sale. The lawyers claimed the undervaluation was the result of the $44m payment made by Mr Ecclestone and Bambino, the Ecclestone family trust, to Gerhard Gribkowsky, the ex-BayernLB banker jailed last year for eight and a half years on corruption charges.
GitanesBlondes wrote:I've got a serious question.
I was under the impression Mercedes/Daimler has rules about corporate responsibility and the like, so why are they still competing in F1 after what's gone on with Ecclestone and company?
I had heard that were Bernard to be indicted, that would lead to a withdrawal as a competing team, yet they continue onward. Any reason for this?
It's "machine operator" xpensive, possibly "machine-operator", but "machineoperator" is a verbal abomination.xpensive wrote:So, all those freebies to MGP might be all in vain then and the only winner is MrM's old machineoperator?
Sorry about that one Richard, but I couldn't resist a penalty-kick like that!
you are dreaming.WhiteBlue wrote:The reaction will be unavoidable if Ecclestone is found guilty. The assumption was that he would become untenable to CVC as soon as he was indicted. They were supposed to suspend him until the procedure has run it's course.
So I think CVC is under strong pressure, Daimler is not yet. They have made some provisions to withdraw their name and keep the team running under the AMG name. If that happens Lauda and Wolff will become even more prominent as the new part owners of the team. I could imagine that MB would sell the MB shares to Aabar where they can be parked until the whole thing is resolved.
The engine facility will probably not be so much affected. They will have to deal with the team at arms length as any other customer if Merc pulls out of F1.
It makes me wonder what exactly really went on with Norbert Haug that they felt so compelled to remove him when he seemed to be quite untouchable in spite of what happened with the CLK-GTR? I never believed a day without Norbert Haug would come, yet it did.marcush. wrote:For Daimler ,there is absolutely NO way around this .They will issue a statement very soon with the clear message to CVC and all involved in Formula 1 to severe ties with Ecclestone instantly.
And as Daimler already has hinted at contractual options open to them to leave the circus.
btw -Daimler was accused of shady things going on in USA and voluntarily comitted to installing a boardmember especially for the purpose of stopping everything illegal,corrupt etc ....
http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... -officials
http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2013/05 ... f-daimler/
I´d say Daimler will never ever risk all the effort and steps already taken just to remain in formula 1... they deliberately risk selling less cars ,trucks and buses in markets demanding "special attention" for their business partners and have severed ties with some russian dealerships because of corruption themes...
As I understand Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt is prepared to do anything she thinks necessary to keep Daimler on the clean side of business .Formula 1 is just too prominent too much media attractive to slip through her radar.
start working at Daimler -first thing you get is a training is compliance and ethics- seriously! you are told exactly what is ok and what is not .And the line they draw is surprisingly low and hard .
I think the teams (not even the current teams) are the ones who had a lot to do with Bernie amassing the power he currently holds. Many of the defunct teams on the grid, as well as the 3 remaining ones from those FISA-FOCA days are mostly responsible as they were more than ok to let Bernie take the reigns on everything. The FIA eventually backed down once Max got power there as Max seemed to do everything possible to give Bernie whatever he desired on the commerical side and ultimately did when he gave the commercial rights away for a pittance.richard_leeds wrote:It's "machine operator" xpensive, possibly "machine-operator", but "machineoperator" is a verbal abomination.xpensive wrote:So, all those freebies to MGP might be all in vain then and the only winner is MrM's old machineoperator?
Sorry about that one Richard, but I couldn't resist a penalty-kick like that!
Back to topic.....
So lets visualise what is needed to fell Bernie? Who can pull the rug from under him? As far as I see it, CVC back him because he brings buckets of cash to their coffers. The FIA and teams have shown themselves unable to even make him blink ,let alone show signs of dislodging him.
Which leads me to think the demise of Bernie as the F1 ringmaster can only be promoted by CVC or nature - but I have my doubts about the second one.
What would nudge CVC to ditch Bernie? Would losing Merc be so bad? After all they are a relatively new entrant, and Bernie brings more cash to CVC than Merc.
If I was CVC I'd call their bluff because I know I'd better off with Bernie in every scenario.
The power train division takes no money from FOM which is the entity indicted with Ecclestone. If they do business with teams by supplying engines for cash and no sponsorship involved that would not be a problem. The engines would be named AMG for F1.marcush. wrote:you are dreaming.
it is enough to be accused or prosecuted to start the severing activity.Mercedes winning on sunday BUT not boasting about monday to promote sales#? I bet the clamp down has already started and Wolff will take over .
I do not see how this would not also affect the powertrain division as well ..with mercedes propulsion assciated with corruption ....but who knows .
You can bet he does. Todt is the only figure in the paddock who has been immune to the kind of Ecclestone bribery that goes on for more than three decades now. At least since he is president of the FiA. It is less known that Ecclestone offered the FiA all the money and more if Todt would have left him the media accreditation in F1. It has recently been confirmed that this right will remain with the FiA according to the MoU they just signed. With the rights to fire every journalist willy nilly out of the paddock Ecclestone's dictatorial powers would have increased significantly. No more critical voices about F1 affairs, rule making or commercial deals. A truly horrible thought.GitanesBlondes wrote:Todt though seems to know better given how he has been dragging the Concorde Agreement discussions out for quite some time. Perhaps he is the only one who really sees Bernie for what he is?