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Global investor and billionaire Gary Fegel is making a new move into sports, acquiring Motorsport Network Media Inc. (MSNM), billed as the world’s largest independent motorsport racing and automotive media platform.
Fegel — holding an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion through a variety of activities such as commodities, real estate, healthcare, and aviation — is gaining a majority stake the sports media asset through his GMF Capital.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal was done without lenders or debt and includes brands such as Motorsport.com, the Motorsport.tv video platform, Autosport, Motorsport-Total, GPOne, and the Autosport Awards, a leading motorsports annual awards ceremony.
Overall, MSNM boasts an audience of more than 40 million monthly users and a social media following of more than 15 million. Exiting MSNM leadership including president James Allen will remain intact.
The deal in part seeks to take advantage of the historic commercial rise across motorsports over the last two years, particularly for Formula 1, which earlier this week saw star-studded investment in the Alpine team.
“Formula 1 is one of the fastest-growing sports, particularly in the U.S.,” Fegel told Front Office Sports. “I always found it strange before it didn’t have more of a following in the U.S., but things change. And I think the category can still grow for a long time to come.”
GMF Capital, which has offices in both the U.S. and Switzerland, and its affiliates have invested more than $5.5 billion since the firm’s 2013 inception.
