Originally Posted by
4Vman
Private equity firm Archer Capital is believed to be making fresh efforts to sell its V8 Supercars business, hiring Miles Advisory to find a buyer.
Miles Advisory is founded and run by Sydney-based former championship racing car driver Tim Miles, who originally helped sell a 60 per cent-odd interest in the V8 business to Archer in 2011 for a price that valued the business at about $300m. The understanding is that V8 is making about $23m in annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
Market participants believe the logical buyers are the racing car teams, although they would likely need assistance funding such an acquisition, which may cost about $200m based on the latest earnings numbers.
One option is that the private equity owner could offer some of the financial support for a bid.
Earlier, the thinking was a television network such as Seven West Media could have acquired the business. Seven West is run by the former V8 boss James Warburton, but the thinking now is Seven West’s focus remains on driving down its debt.
The consensus in the market is an acquisition by racing car teams is the last resort.
The broadcasting rights of V8, which are held by Seven and Fox Sports, are seen as the most valuable part of the operation.
The revived sale attempts come as Archer founder and former Rugby Australia board member Peter Wiggs spends less time at the firm, which appears to be winding down its operations
