Conversely it's probably what's holding up the sale, as it allows for the current owner to ask for more...turbof1 wrote:I hope they survive. This team has had to deal with do much misfortune the last few years; they deserve their place in F1.
Luckily they still have that scope on the price money boost; it'll be atleast somewhat attractive to potentional buyers.
Ah, the Tories...the party where even county councillors can afford to by a Formula 1 team... (sorry, couldn't resist)daveyrace wrote: Baljinder Sohi and Sonny Kaushal, a Conservative Party candidate for council election this year in Slough, told the Telegraph they have been in close contact in recent days with the Banbury-based team[/i]
Probably because with liquidation, receiving price money goes through the window too. If the price money exceeds the cost of refinancing debt, you have your answer.Richard wrote:Why would the new owner pick up the cost of refinancing the debt? Currently the best possible outcome for the team is liquidation, so the buyer only needs to offer a little bit more than the cash the current creditors would get from a liquidation sale. The current owners are in no place to haggle because the buyer could shrug and walk away, or go to Caterham, or invest in Sauber/Lotus/FI, etc.
Mercedes bought Brawn GP for 90m back in the day, and they were world champions! 55m for backmarker which is in serious trouble, sounds reasonable. All else is really a matter if you'd think F1 is a sensible investment, which of course isn't, but let's be glad some people still have interest despite that.marcush. wrote:the biggest point is not the depts it is how to source the ongoing cost .200headcount thats 20Mill€ alone or 1,6mill per month ....plus a comparable number for Aero development to have a remote chance to move forward ....plus the PUs..plus plus plus.. so someone coming with 55mill is not even going to carry this undertaking much longer than season close methinks.And who would sponsor a team like Marussia with 30 or 50Mill € per year with not even some points scored 2015 being very likely .
There are not any big assets coming with Marussia -like a bonafide Windtunnel or a state of the art facility ..
Ah, so if the current scenario is that the money worthless, the old owners can easily state that the price money goes to them instead of the team when the team enters in 2015?Richard wrote:At the moment Marussia won't get the prize money if they don't enter 2015. So the current scenario is that the prize money is worthless. If Marussia ask a buyer to allow for the prize money, that buyer can say they're not going to pay an inflated price and walk away, Marussia will be left with nothing.
However, there is the precedent that Bernie has paid prize money early for teams in trouble. So if Marussia can have that cash now, then buyer will have to include it. So Bernie's patronage will make the difference between a sale or liquidation. How much does Bernie want to keep a full grid, or would he like Marussia to go because then he can have the 3 car teams that he keeps talking about?
The seller would still forego the future income if he just lets the team go into liquidation. Say that after paying off debt 5m remains of that income, and the price is 2.5m above liquidation price. Then it'd be more advantaegous to buy the team before liquidation. The choice will boil down to either buying the team BEFORE liquidation, or not buying it at all. And the seller always has a choice. Just because he's in trouble does not mean he needs to sell below the market price.Richard wrote:The buyer has no obligation to enter F1, they can walk away. Why take on a team with debt when you can start your own team with no inherited debt? Also why buy a team with debt when there are alternative deals without debt such as Force India & Sauber?
The seller in this case has no alternative. The current scenario will leave them without a penny and loss of any assets used to guarantee loans. So a buyer offering them say $1m for 'goodwill' in addition to liquidation value will result in the seller being $1m better off with the deal than without, plus avoiding the disruption of liquidation.
The buyer holds the trump card because they are free to walk away, and they have other options for investing in F1.
Pragmatically, if there is a buyer I imagine Bernie releasing the prize money early and that'll be used to bail out the debt. The new owners would start with a clean sheet. Bernie's motive is to assure suppliers that the prize money can be relied on as a last resort if a team is struggling with credit. It's like a central bank unwriting future earnings for teams, it'll shore up the credit worthiness of the teams that remain.