Archer confirms Supercars sale to RACE

RACE, the consortium that's been formed out of what was long-known as the TLA/ARG bid for Supercars, is, according to this announcement, 'led by Barclay Nettlefold together with Australian Racing Group and Henslow'.

Nettlefold is the Global CEO of TLA's parent company TGI Sport, however the announcement itself doesn't reference either TGI or TLA Worldwide despite their anticipated involvement in the ownership and management of the category.

ARG, led by former Supercars team boss Barry Rogers and former Supercars MD Matt Braid, currently owns, promotes and runs a number of Aussie categories including TCR Australia, S5000 and GT World Challenge Australia.

Henslow, meanwhile, is an investment firm that was recently in charge of an unpublicised funding effort for the Supercars purchase that was fully subscribed at roughly $25 million.

The statement adds that, 'transition of the shareholding will be completed by the end of the year, with RACE starting to engage in planning for 2022 with Archer and management'.

The news spells the end of a decade-long ownership stint for Archer, which bought the series for a figure around $180 million back in 2011.

The stake is believed to be now changing hands for around $60 million.

“We set out to find a new majority shareholder that would be able to build on the work that Archer and the management team have done over the past five years," said Supercars and Archer Capital chairman Peter Wiggs.

“The expertise that RACE has in sport, media, marketing and digital will enable just that.”

Nettlefold added: “Supercars, with the support of Archer, has done an amazing job navigating the past two years.

“The RACE board and I look forward to combining our collective resources, heralding an exciting new era in the growth of a sport that all Australians love.”

The skeleton announcement appears to omit a number of key details, including the final make-up of RACE's board.

There is also no confirmation that the 35 per cent stake currently owned by the teams will also be handed to RACE as part of the takeover.

It's understood that the teams collective will forfeit its ownership stake for a guaranteed fixed income of at least $650,000 per entry, per year, for the next five years.

The deal is also expected to include a one-off grant of $450,000 per car to help with the transition to Gen3 in 2023.

RACE's bid to purchase Supercars beat out a rival consortium bid led by Boost Mobile founder Peter Adderton and including the likes of Alan Gow, Mick Doohan, Pete Smith and Paul Morris.

That bid was backed by media giant News Corp.

ARG was also initially considered a contender with its own bid before teaming up with the TLA bid that ultimately morphed into RACE.