[JPMontoya]

KirchMedia, the sports rights and free-TV arm of the debt-laden Kirch Group that owns 75% of F1 trust SLEC, filed for insolvency earlier today with a Munich court.

The move was widely expected due to the group’s massive debts – thought to be as much as 8 billion Euros – and comes after rescue talks between the company and its creditors. Italian PM and millionaire businessman Silvio Berlusconi and Media giant Rupert Murdoch, both minority shareholders in KirchMedia, were in negotiations to take over the firm but could not come to an agreement.

The future of the SLEC stake is still up in the air but it is looking increasingly likely that F1 Boss Bernie Ecclestone will acquire it. It is understood he had offered $900 million for it recently but it was turned down by company executives. However, in light of today’s development all offers will be considered as a way of recouping some of the losses. Kirch had initially paid $3 billion for the 75% stake over time.

Other important sporting rights, such as the rights to 2002 and 2006 Football world cups held by KirchMedia have been swiftly dealt with by the firm’s creditor banks Commerzbank, DZ Bank, Bayerische Landesbank, and HypoVereinsbank. They have spun the rights off from KirchMedia to a Swiss subsidiary called KirchSport as a way of ensuring they do not return to FIFA, football’s equivalent of the FIA.

SOURCE : dailyf1.com
-----------------------------------
The Pope kan weer in z'n pollekes wrijven : it's all comming back
uiteindelijk zal kirch toch verkopen aan Ecclestone