Supercars at The Bend
A shareholder in the consortium which owns Supercars is set to sell out.
Speedcafe.com understands that the stakeholder is in fact Sydney property tycoon Brian Boyd, who is also a part-owner in the Australian Racing Group (ARG).
It had been thought that ARG held a 30 percent share of Racing Australia Consolidated Enterprises (RACE), but Speedcafe.com now believes that the 30 percent in question is in fact separate holdings owned by Boyd and the Rogers’ respectively.
It is thus understood, contrary to an earlier report, it is not ARG itself which is selling a stake in RACE.
Barry Rogers has reaffirmed his commitment to Supercars amid the stakeholder sell-out and confirmed the Rogers-owned shares are not on the market.
“No, we’ve we haven’t sold any of our shares,” Barry Rogers told Speedcafe.com.
“We’re committed to the whole…we’re committed to all of motorsport, bloody oath we are.
“At this point, we’re committed to everything we do. We’re committed to a sharing holding in RACE, we’re committed our involvement with ARG and our share holding there.
“That’s sort of where we stand, but I can’t speak for others.”
On the so-called ‘ARG stake’, Rogers explained, “There’s two ARG people, being us, and a fellow called Brian Boyd, who is Payce.
“Between us, we’ve got a percentage of RACE, but they’re in our individual names.”
He elaborated, “I think, between us, we’ve probably got about just short of 30 percent stake; not remove 30 percent combined.”
The news that a shareholder is set to sell out follows a reportedly rejected takeover bid of Supercars from European company FanTech.
At the time, Barclay Nettlefold, Supercars’ chairman, acknowledged that a number of approaches have been made for the business but did not provide further detail.
Rogers penned an email to Supercars team owners in the wake of the reports, obtained by Speedcafe.com.
In that email, Rogers spoke of the fragmentation of the Australian motorsport landscape and a divide between Supercars and ARG, despite the common ownership.
RACE acquired Supercars last October, purchasing Archer Capital’s approximately 60 percent stake and the 35 percent of shares owned by the teams themselves.