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F1 might delay IPO - Ecclestone

Donald Mackenzie, Peter Brabeck-Lethmathe and Bernie Ecclestone on the grid © Sutton Images

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Bernie Ecclestone has said Formula One's planned initial public offering on the Singapore stock exchange could be delayed while owners CVC Capital wait for the right moment.

Over recent months stories have gathered pace that CVC is planning a flotation of some of its shares in Singapore, but Ecclestone told CNN in Monaco that it would only do so when the market conditions are right.

"All that has ever been said is that [CVC managing partner Donald] Mackenzie said this would probably depend an awful lot on what the market is at the time and the market doesn't look too bright after that little bit of a problem with Facebook," he said, referring to drop in the value of the social networking website's shares since its IPO last Friday. "I think they [CVC] are going to wait and see," he added.

Ecclestone hinted that all the current teams have now agreed to sign up to remain in Formula One until at least 2020 - a crucial factor to ensure the value of the sport. There had been concerns that Mercedes were not happy with the proposed deal in the next Concorde Agreement but Ecclestone said he is confident they will agree.

"You'll have to wait to see if Mercedes have, but I'm confident everything with Mercedes will be fine," he said "I appreciate and support Mercedes more than anyone. They do a fantastic job for Formula One. They've done a good, good job and I really appreciate it. But the way the whole thing was constructed was on results and we couldn't falsify the results otherwise other people would complain."

On Friday Reuters confirmed that Nestle's Peter Brabeck had been appointed as Formula One's chairman. He also said that no decision had been made on a date for the IPO, while Mackenzie told Reuters: "It's certainly something we are going to do over the next 3-6 months but there is no set timetable."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.