[Dackelone]

Russian billionaire Viktor Kharitonin reportedly buys controlling share in Nurburgring

Our friend Dale Lomas over at Bridgetogantry.com is reporting that our beloved 'Ring has been sold again. Well... actually it's Wirtschafts Woche that is reporting the sale. Dale has just translated the article and let his followers on BtG and PistonHeads know.


http://www.pistonheads.com/news/defa...?storyId=31104


The Nurburgring seemingly has a new owner, as Russian billionaire Viktor Kharitonin has reportedly swooped into the void left by a struggling Capricorn. So says respected German business weekly Wirtschafts Woche.

The state of Capricorn's finances have been a big question ever since the first day they were named owners incumbent by the state government. Recently it was widely reported that Capricorn boss Robertino Wild was in financial dire straits, with accusations of his property and art collection being mortgaged twice over.

Just to recap, Capricorn and Getspeed were in a partnership to buy the 'ring for a deal worth around 77m euros. Capricorn being the senior, two-thirds, partner in the agreement. It's this senior part of the deal that Kharitonin is understood to have bought into.

Dark clouds lifting at last? Possibly... The first part payment of 5m euros was paid earlier in the year by the junior partner, Getspeed. But with more payments deadlined for tomorrow and December, and Getspeed being visited by state Bailiffs last month, it seemed like only a miracle could save the controversial deal controversial deal. But as Wirtschafts Woche reports in the article linked above, Kharitonin has made the payments due both this month and in December.
In the very short-term sense, this news comes as a relief, because in the worst-case scenario, the Nurburgring might have closed with immediate effect had Capricorn or Getspeed not made the next payment. The state had already made noises to say it wasn't going to pay the day-to-day running costs of the 'ring or the wages of its staff. Most locals and regulars find it hard to believe that this could be good for the 'ring in the long-term though.

"It's the worst case come true," says Mike Frison, long-time Nurburgring fan and the campaigner behind the Save The Ring movement. "So many times the administrators and politicians kept saying that the 'ring would be taken care of. That it would never fall into the hands of some Russian oligarch. Never trust a politician. Q.E.D. For me it's so sad to be right again."

It's Kharitonin's firm NH Holding that has taken control of Capricorn's stake, and therefore the whole Nurburgring. Kharitonin made his personal fortune alongside more well-known countrymen Roman Abramovich and Evgeny Shvidler in Pharmstandard. His petrolhead habit is largely unreported, but he does appear in the entry list for the Mille Miglia. In nothing less than a 1935 Mercedes-Benz 500K.

Considering he apparently just spent around over £30m on a couple of flats in London, it might not be surprising that he just bought control of, arguably, the world's greatest race track for a few million more...

[Sources: Wirtschafts Woche, Bild.de, Forbes, 1000Miglia.it, BusinessInsider]

http://www.wiwo.de/unternehmen/diens.../10911360.html

[TSM330i]

Is it so bad that someone with actual money bought the 'Ring?
I realize he's Russian, but he seems to be a Petrolhead and have a ton of money to boot.
Hopefully, he'll treat it as it should be and improve things where they need to be. Only time will tell. As of now, it's open and running. That's a huge plus from the start.

My trip to the 'Ring was a dream come true. Hopefully, it'll stick around a lot longer and many others will be able to fulfill their dreams too.

[datbimmer]

I hope I will get to live my dream one day....

[MasterFlo]

Нюрбургрин НАШ!

Crimea is Russian now, and Nurburgring also!

[Bigiggs]

Originally Posted by MasterFlo

Нюрбургрин НАШ!

Crimea is Russian now, and Nurburgring also!

Just please don't squander the ring and make it into east berlin circa 1984...thanks!

[VCP]

Hints of world domination

Originally Posted by MasterFlo

Нюрбургрин НАШ!

Crimea is Russian now, and Nurburgring also!

[RingMeister01]

I think the main concern of the diehard Ring fans is that it'll become an expensive resort or a Disney Land of sorts.

Now that the Ring sees proper financial backing it's possible to improve the facility, as in pavement, safety and hospitality.

[aas5]

Originally Posted by MasterFlo

Нюрбургрин НАШ!

Crimea is Russian now, and Nurburgring also!

Dude from Kazakhstan, what part of it and the Crimea is yours?

[MParallel]

Lindner and his buddy already turned it into Disneyland. They need to reverse it.

If there is one thing to do, for heaven's sake, the popular huge Brunnchen spectators place, what an atrocity that is. Get rid of the sand and pothole galore it is now and make it a proper parking place.

And then the main entrance parking, which was made before Top Gear and the explosion of visitors.
And then the big field-turned-parking lot at the other side of the roundabout.

But still an awesome place. During the Green Hell Driving Days from begin October. Traffic jam for getting off track.

[btbossman]

Good for him, I would love to own the ring, unfortunately I'm not a billionaire...

[radun]

Time will tell if this was good or bad however I thought that Nurburgring belongs to Germany.

[N.S.A]

what is wrong with a Russian buying the race track.?? I do not understand

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by radun

Time will tell if this was good or bad however I thought that Nurburgring belongs to Germany.

Yes, the 'Ring still belongs the German state of: Rheinland-Pfalz. Since RP has "invested" something like 330Million euros into the 'Ring. Some say its much, much more.


Basically the article(link bellow, in German) says: Capricorn's boss: Robertino Wild brought in Viktor(Russian billionaire) into play. Viktor takes over 2/3rd's of NR Holding. Wild remains as the Director of Capricorn and NR Holdings. So Capricorn still owns the Ring, but Capricorn is now owned 2/3rd's by Victor. But Wild now relies to 100% on Victor. We shall see how long this "honey moon" lasts.

The good news is, that Capricorn can still go on with their plans to rebuild the 'Ring surroundings and the 'Ring complex, as they have initially planned to do so. So this is basically only a change on executive levels right now. And that is the catch... as long as Capricorn doesn't miss a payments to the state of Rheinland-Pfalz, RH must abide by the sales contract they agreed too.

We have to wait and see how this all plays out. But one thing is for sure... no one wants to kill the goose that is laying the golden eggs(Nürburgring Nordschleife touristenfahrten). The question will soon be... how much will people pay for one lap of the NS. ? Right now its 27 euros. I wonder how much more it will go up?

http://www.sportscar-info.de/portal/...ns-investition

[Elsabor67]

For some that really don't follow all the issues of what's been going on at the Nurburgring, it would be hard to understand. Long story short, previous owners defaulted (Richter/Linder) through shady dealings with the Rheinland Pfalz regional government. Bidding comes up, and the 2 higher bids (HGI and ADAC) are undercut by the 2nd largest auto parts consortium in Germany, Capricorn to the tune of $77M, although HGI and ADAC respectively bid over 100M each.

Out of the blue, the major german bank that was supposed to provide the cash to Capricorn, changes course and says NO to the credit that Capricorn and their chairman, Robertino Wild was supposed to use. Out of an obscure corner, comes Viktor Charitonin, who owns a major Pharma consortium in Russia and ponies up the cash for this and becomes 2/3rd owner and creates with Wild a board of Directors where now Wild is the CEO but Charitonin owns the majority shares. Capricorn maintains "control" of the operations of the track.

Most don't like how this smells because they remember what happened previously with the last owners when they tried to muscle out the local economy that has been a part of the ring for decades and failed. Also most expected HGI, who operate several tracks in the US would have won the bid. Sadly, others with more voice were vocal that they did not want the track to be controlled or operated by people that were not German. Now, A russian controls 2/3rds of the track and the other 1/3rd id held by the German company who maintains the day to day operations. Hopefully this does not become another smokescreen and bust.

[huatian]

Some things just need to stay German.

[///Mikey F80]

Where can I get the photo that's used to link this story on the Bimmerpost Homepage? It's awesome

Thanks

///Mikey

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by ///Mikey e90

Where can I get the photo that's used to link this story on the Bimmerpost Homepage? It's awesome

Thanks

///Mikey

Here you go...

[BMW269]

What wrong that he's Russian? US propaganda too much?

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by Levi

What wrong that he's Russian? US propaganda too much?

Nothing. It's just part of the facts. It's where he's from.

[Pure]

Friend Dackelone.

I had knowledge of the problems of the track from about 2 years ago.
I always thought that the consortium of German cars: "BMW AG, Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG" would buy this circuit.
Mostly because everyone knows that in this track test their vehicles and is a profitable business.
I'm surprised that the German government has not more shares in order to protect the heritage of Germany.
Since my vision is the best track in the world and is a treasure.
I hope now that this track in the hands of Mr. Viktor Kharitonin, the necessary care for the preservation of the circuit is maintained.
I hope this is part of a joint between Germany and Russia on cooperation, respect and reciprocity.
Also establish bonds of friendship and honesty.

[Havok_2011]

I think its great that a car enthusiasts worth billions is now the owner....Russian or not, I dont see the issue.

[bradleyland]

There are concerns over people's motivations, regardless of their nationality. The history of the Nürburgring since it's first sale to private owners has been a bit contentious. In this case, I won't speculate anything, because I'm not nearly familiar enough with that short bit of history to have a useful opinion