Caterham F1: The new owners threaten to withdraw
Claiming to be overwhelmed by the problems surrounding the purchase of the Caterham team, the new owners of the structure have announced that they could simply withdraw, blaming the former owners, including Tony Fernandes.
The new leaders of Caterham, who arrived in the summer after buying the team from Tony Fernandes, have threatened to backtrack on their involvement with the structure due to several issues related to the former owner.
In recent days, Caterham Sports Limited (CSL) – a subsidiary of 1MRT – has been placed under judicial administration due to insolvency, amid rising concerns about the financiers following the acquisition.
Finbarr O’Connell, one of the joint administrators of CSL, expressed his doubts in the pages of the Financial Times: « Clearly, the parties who bought Tony Fernandes’ business have been unable to finance this enterprise. When it comes to F1 teams, you normally deal with a front figure who is in the public eye. [However] the current owners of Caterham F1 are not yet completely clear to me. »
Even though, after this information became public, the team’s leaders assured that it would have no impact, a statement published on the Internet this Wednesday evening is of a completely different nature.
The new owners of Caterham – the company Engavest – say they are overwhelmed by the situation and accuse Tony Fernandes of not fulfilling some of his commitments related to the sale: « In a very regrettable manner, the appointment of the judicial administrators has had particularly harmful effects on the team’s activities. Since their appointment, the administrators have released several press releases, which have been highly unfavorable to the management of Caterham F1. »
« After three months of running the team in good faith, the buyer is now forced to explore all options, including withdrawing his management team, » thus threatens the statement. « Lawyers have been appointed by the buyer to file all necessary complaints against all parties, including Mr. Fernandes, who, as the owner, will handle the F1. » Tony Fernandes is therefore announced as being back « in charge of the team ». Autosport notes that the person concerned had not yet responded by the early evening.
According to the statement, Tony Fernandes would not have fully transferred the ownership of the team to Engavest: « On June 29, 2014, Caterham and Sheikh Mohamed Nasarudin (the sellers) as well as their shareholders Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Bin Meranun entered into a sale agreement with Engavest (the buyers) concerning 1MRT. Since the date of the agreement, the seller has refused to fulfill its legal obligations to transfer its shares to the buyers. The buyers have been put in an unfair position by having to fund the team without having legal title for the purchased team. »
The statement specifies, finally, that judicial administrators have been appointed on behalf of Export-Import Bank of Malaysia, which is a creditor of Tony Fernandes and the Caterham Group, and that the buyers have no connection with this company.
Reached in the evening by our colleagues from Crash.net, Manfredi Ravetto indicated that he is no longer at the head of the Leafield team, at the request of Engavest, while legal solutions are being examined: « My superiors asked me to step back and I have to comply. So, I assume that, from now on, the owners of Caterham F1 – I understood that it is still Mr. Fernandes – must take the necessary actions from now on. […] I cannot say [if the team will race in Austin] because we were making the usual preparations for the race until today. What will happen from tomorrow is no longer under my control. »
Update at 10:00 PM: On Twitter, Tony Fernandes shared a message: « If you buy something, you have to pay for it. Pretty simple. »
If you buy something you should pay for it. Quite simple
— Tony Fernandes (@tonyfernandes) 22 Octobre 2014
