The German press revisits the Gribkowsky affair

After a sensational start in early January, the corruption case surrounding the sale of Formula 1 by BayernLB to CVC has left the front pages of newspapers worldwide. However, Spiegel claims today that the Formula One shares may not have been undervalued during the said sale. This could call the entire case into question…

Indeed, the entire Gribkowsky affair, named after the banker responsible for BayernLB for this sale, was based on an undervaluation of these shares in exchange for the payment of 50 million dollars through various accounts located in tax havens, which allegedly ended up in the accounts of his foundation in Austria.

According to information from Spiegel, CVC reportedly offered much more than competing bids! The market value of an asset in general, and stocks in particular, is dictated by what buyers are willing to pay and what sellers are willing to accept for that same asset. If CVC made a higher offer than other potential buyers, it is therefore difficult to say that the investment fund undervalued these stocks.

Thus, the investment fund Clearbrook Capital would have proposed one billion dollars and the Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa would have raised its offer to 1.5 billion dollars. However, the specialized news site pitpass claims to have absolute proof that CVC paid 1.7 billion dollars to acquire SLEC. This information correlates with the fact that BayernLB’s 2006 annual report indicates «The portfolio of participations was simplified in 2006, which led to a reduction in the total number of participations. In total, 21 companies were removed from the portfolio and eight were added. The largest value contribution is related to the stake in Formula 1, which was sold to the UK investment fund CVC Capital Partners.»

Thus, the bank clearly asserts that this disposal significantly contributed to the positive result of 328 million euros that the bank recorded for the year: « The sale of the stake in Formula 1 decisively contributed to this positive result. » Undoubtedly, if the bank had realized that one of its employees had wronged it, it would not have hesitated to challenge the transaction, especially after the devastating effects of the 2008 financial crisis. It did nothing of the sort, which shows that it finds nothing to complain about.

If Gehrard Gribkowsky indeed received 50 million dollars, it is unlikely that it came from the sale of the shares in F1. Even less so that the payment was made by Bernie Ecclestone since he had nothing to gain from an undervaluation of the shares as he was not the buyer…

With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr