FEW people, except conspiracy theorists, would have expected so public a spat as the one this week between the two ringmasters of Formula One (F1) motor racing.BernieEcclestone, a fabulously wealthyBritish motor sport entrepreneur, is at odds, it would seem, with his longstanding associate, Max Mosley, president of F1's governing body, the Federation International de l'Automobile (FIA、.
Ostensibly, the dispute has broken out over what looked like a done deal. Last June, the FI
A、voted unanimously to extend Mr.Ecclestone's exclusive rights to stage and broadcast F1 racing, which expire in 2010, by 100 years. For these lucrative rights, Mr.Ecclestone was to pay the FI
A、a mere $360m in total, and only $60m immediately. The FI
A、claims that Mr.Ecclestone has not made the payment of $60m, a claim denied by Mr.Ecclestone, who insists the money has been placed in an escrow account. Mr. Mosley has asked Mr.Ecclestone to pay up or risk losing the deal for the F1 rights after 2010, perhaps to a consortium of car makers that own F1 teams. For his part, Mr.Ecclestone has, rather theatrically, accused Mr. Mosley of "trying to do some extortion".
What is going on? Only three things can be stated with confidence. First, the idea that Mr.Ecclestone cannot find the $60m is ludicrous: his family trust is not exactly short of cash, having raised around $2 billion in the past two years. Second, it would not be in Mr.Ecclestone's long-term financial interest to forgo a deal which could only enhance the value of his family's remaining 50% stake in SLEC, the holding company for the group of companies that runs the commercial side of F1. Third, the timing of the dispute is very interesting.
Why?Because the other 50% stake in SLEC, owned byEM. TV, a debt- ridden German media company, is up for sale.EM. TV badly needs to sell this stake in the near future to keep its bankers at bay. The uncertainty created by the dispute between Mr.Ecclestone and Mr. Mosley might depress the value ofEM. TV's holding.Could that work to Mr.Ecclestone's advantage? Quite possibly. The lower the value ofEM. TV's stake, the higher the relative value of an option Mr.Ecclestone holds to sell a further 25% of SLEC、toEM. TV for around $1 billion--and the better the deal Mr.Ecclestone might be able to extract for surrendering the option. Whoever buysEM. TV's stake in SLEC、will have to negotiate with Mr.Ecclestone over this instrument. TheEconomist understands that Mr.Ecclestone has the right to veto a plan proposed lastDecember by Kirch, a privately owned German media group, to buy half ofEM. TV's holding for $550m.
In the coming weeks, Mr.Ecclestone will doubtless be deploying his formidable negotiating skills to best advantage. It would be rash to bet against his securing a good deal out ofEM. TV's difficulties. His dispute with the FI
A、may then be easily resolveD、As usual, he holds all the cards.
36. FI
A、would give its partner the right to stage the racing till
A、Mr.Ecclestone gave all the money.
B、The contract time is reacheD、
C、The 100th year after 2010.
D、Mr.Ecclestone gave it 60m$.
37. The word “extortion”(last line, para 2 ) means
A、abjection
B、negotiation
C、cheating
D、racketeering
38. Which statement is probably true?
A、Mr.Ecclestone just wanted to get more benefits through theEM.TV sale.
B、Mr.Ecclestone wanted to give up the benefits from the contract.
C、The timing of the dispute is very improper.
D、Mr.Ecclestone cannot afford the money.
39. The last sentence of the passage implies
A、Mr.Ecclestone can win at cards.
B、Mr.Ecclestone will achieve great success in the negotiation.
C、Mr.Ecclestone cheated all his partners.
D、Mr.Eccestone will lose the whole contract with FI
A、
40.According to the last paragraph, “he holds all the cards” as
A、he deploys to best advantage
B、he wins all the cards
C、he never fails himself
D、he takes the cards in hand