$21bn American group linked with Liverpool investment ‘looking at’ different takeover

An American media group linked with investing in Liverpool are said to be interested in a different takeover.

Reds owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) are currently searching for new investors. It emerged last November that the club had been placed on the market, with a partial rather than a complete sale preferred. Principal owner John Henry has admitted that FSG have been in talks with potential investors.

One party that has been mooted is Liberty Media Group. At the start of March, The Telegraph reported that the American-based company were a ‘contender’ to become involved in Liverpool.

Liberty Media own Formula One and MLB team the Atlanta Braves, along with SiriusXM radio group - and is valued at $21 billion by Forbes. Since purchasing Formula One from Bernie Ecclestone in 2017 for a reported £3.44 billion, Liberty Media have looked to conquer the US market. Three races in the F1 season now take place Stateside while the Netflix docu-series Drive to Survive has increased interest.

And according to Formula One journalist and analyst Peter Windsor, Liberty Media are now looking at purchasing IndyCar Series as a ‘feeder’ for F1. Speaking on Youtube (via planetF1.com), Windsor said: “One of the things Liberty are looking at at the moment – and this is quite a good idea – is buying IndyCar to make it effectively an American feeder series for F1.

“How they would do that, I don’t know – maybe get rid of some of the ovals and make it even more road coursey [sic], maybe make the cars a little bit more F1-like, maybe carbon brakes or whatever.

“Maybe that’s why Zak [Brown, McLaren chief executive] is there, I don’t know. That’s not a completely stupid idea. I think it’s quite a cool idea actually because it’s a place where you could put a lot of good, talented drivers who can’t make it into Formula One and then they go and do this American series. It makes sense to me to do that.”

However, the president of Penske Corporation - who own IndyCar Series - Bud Denker, has denied the claim. He told RACER: “There’s no truth to any of that. There’s been no discussion, and frankly, we wouldn’t sell it. Being the stewards of the Indy 500 and being stewards of the IndyCar Series go hand in hand. We bought this series and bought the Speedway in 2020, and as long as we own both of those, they’re going to stay together.”

RACER also reports that Liberty Media sources have denied the interest.