MotoGP: Shareholders take billion Euro payday from promoter Dorna

Shareholders in MotoGP and World Superbike’s organising body Dorna are set to take a payday worth nearly a billion Euros from the company, after using a dividend recapitalisation to take a profit expected to be in the region of €889 million from the Spanish-based business.

The two organisations set to benefit most are private equity investors Bridgepoint Capital and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the two biggest shareholders in the company.

A dividend recapitalisation is standard business practice where companies take profits from companies by lumping them with debt. That in turn means that future profits from the company are likely to be piled into repaying the debt rather than investing in the future of the sport – but may not be a significant issue with one source describing Dorna as a ‘cash cow’ to industry experts Reuters.

It’s also not the first time that Dorna have been subject to a dividend recapitalisation by their owners, either, with €420 million taken from the company in 2011 and a further €715 million in 2014.

Dorna hold the rights to promote MotoGP until 2041 and World Superbikes until 2036.