A1 Bankrupt!

steve nielsen · 29 Jun 2009, 08:27 (Ref:2493071)

Quote:

the company – which is responsible for much of the group's day-to-day operations, such as looking after the cars – went into liquidation last Wednesday.

A spokesperson for A1 Grand Prix Operations Limited said: "Like many other companies in today's difficult economic environment, we had cashflow problems and we haven't been able to pay them (the suppliers)."

It is not clear what will happen to the company's 40 employees, who work at Silverstone and in London.

Sources said Tony Teixeira, the company's chairman, has indicated that workers could be re-employed through another vehicle in the next few days.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for A1GP said the court could soon appoint an administrator to A1 Grand Prix Operations Limited, which is a subsidiary of A1 Holdings, a company based in the British Virgin Islands.

The A1GP concept was launched in 2004 by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Al Maktoum, a member of Dubai's ruling family.

In 2006, Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum left the group as
part of a major financial restructuring that was supposed to help the company prepare for a float on the London Stock Exchange.

That deal saw hedge fund RAB Capital acquire a majority stake in A1GP. RAB's Special Situations fund, which is run by Philip Richards, bought the 80pc stake. Back then RAB's stake was reported to be worth about £100m, but it has since been written down by a substantial amount.

RAB Capital declined to comment.

(telegraph.co.uk)

Well, we all coul see that one coming, the question was:when?.

JimW · 29 Jun 2009, 10:09 (Ref:2493130)

That's sad. Hope something can be recovered from the ruins.

Jim

Bodysnatcher · 29 Jun 2009, 10:14 (Ref:2493135)

It is only A1GP operations Ltd(UK) that appears to have gone bust.
One might presume that the cars etc are owned by another company. Hence TT talking about reforming under another name (and my thought that it might be outside of the UK, given TT's Angolan/Portuguese background and his new links with the Algarve circuit)

cos · 29 Jun 2009, 10:21 (Ref:2493141)

http://tentenths.com/forum/showpost....&postcount=121

That Tony indicated "workers could be re-employed through another vehicle" suggests that there's some sort of plan in place; and it's only the UK companies that appear to be in trouble (haven't seen the relevant documents filed at Companies House yet if they are indeed in liquidation).

Mak · 29 Jun 2009, 11:40 (Ref:2493195)

This is all very well, but just another example of how the system can be manipulated to cheat people out of their hard earned money. Many suppliers, will be badly hurt by A1's bad debt, and some may go under. It is hard times for all, but most of A1's problems are a result of stupid decisions made by the so called managers of this series...

Kiwi3 · 29 Jun 2009, 15:36 (Ref:2493370)

Extremely cynical if it is just a matter of avoiding supplier payments while relocating, and surely the damage done to A1GP's already poor reputation would make any sort of continuation very unlikely under the current mismanagement.

I can only hope somebody else buys it out and continues to run it as a going concern. It will be a travesty if it is lost.

Joaquin Topiso · 29 Jun 2009, 18:18 (Ref:2493466)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwi3

Extremely cynical if it is just a matter of avoiding supplier payments while relocating, and surely the damage done to A1GP's already poor reputation would make any sort of continuation very unlikely under the current mismanagement.

I can only hope somebody else buys it out and continues to run it as a going concern. It will be a travesty if it is lost.

Teixeira is said to have commited to continue with the series, and to pay evry debt to the suppliers, which at the end of the day, are who will make season five happen.

Let´s hope he can do that... and all the effort of put into season 4 (including the new cars) will not be lost.

RichardRenes · 29 Jun 2009, 19:15 (Ref:2493489)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mak

This is all very well, but just another example of how the system can be manipulated to cheat people out of their hard earned money.

I got news for you: Everyone is swindling you out of your money

steve nielsen · 29 Jun 2009, 20:22 (Ref:2493519)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joaquin Topiso

Teixeira is said to have commited to continue with the series, and to pay evry debt to the suppliers, which at the end of the day, are who will make season five happen.

Let´s hope he can do that... and all the effort of put into season 4 (including the new cars) will not be lost.

If he can pay, why has'nt he payed it yet??

and if they can make it happen: who's willing to do buisiness with a company wich has trouble paying the bills??(especialy these days)

Roninho · 29 Jun 2009, 21:43 (Ref:2493572)

Well, this doesn't suprise me at all.

They have spent an enormous amount of money, and still have no big tv-income, no manufacturer sponsorship, a lot of dropped events and with low tv-ratings limited sponsorship for teams.

Kebab · 30 Jun 2009, 01:28 (Ref:2493634)

More dodgy restructuring along the lines of Team GBR by the sound of it ... bunch of crooks (imo), I hope the appropriate authorities investigate

Kiwi3 · 30 Jun 2009, 03:37 (Ref:2493657)

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve nielsen

If he can pay, why has'nt he payed it yet??

and if they can make it happen: who's willing to do buisiness with a company wich has trouble paying the bills??(especialy these days)

I have the same questions.

And there is nothing on the official series website yet. The longer the news is in the public without any explanation of what is going on then the less and less confidence people will have.

Mak · 30 Jun 2009, 09:29 (Ref:2493793)

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardRenes

I got news for you: Everyone is swindling you out of your money

Thats the attitide that has created the current world wide economic problems. Doesn't have to be that way with appropriate regulation in place and social unacceptance of these business practices!

diabloA1 · 30 Jun 2009, 11:12 (Ref:2493846)

A1GP & Ferrari: The look of love

I noticed a series of feature stories now on Autosport.com. I'm sure we are all starving for A1GP related news

Kiwi3 · 30 Jun 2009, 15:33 (Ref:2493965)

Very nice article by Autosport (may need online subscription). They used to be quite anti-A1GP but seemed to become converts before season 4.

No mention in Autosport of bankruptcy and a comments near the end of the article "But assurances have been given that the finances are now in place and some tough decisions are being taken as A1GP reorganises itself into a more commercially viable series."

Presume this bankruptcy is what the reorganisation refers to.

Kebab · 30 Jun 2009, 20:11 (Ref:2494102)

Anyone got the number for Panorama?

jackschmidt · 30 Jun 2009, 21:54 (Ref:2494150)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwi3

Very nice article by Autosport (may need online subscription). They used to be quite anti-A1GP but seemed to become converts before season 4.

No mention in Autosport of bankruptcy and a comments near the end of the article "But assurances have been given that the finances are now in place and some tough decisions are being taken as A1GP reorganises itself into a more commercially viable series."

Presume this bankruptcy is what the reorganisation refers to.

I really want to read this article. Unfortunately, Autosport has that funky subscription.

diabloA1 · 1 Jul 2009, 03:03 (Ref:2494244)

oh shoot. I forgot you need a subscription to read it. It really is a good one. It very factually describes the problems in season 4 from the friesacher pre-season crash and why it happened, the fact that seat holders bailed out A1GP so the Brands race could go on.. all the stuff we've been hearing about but can only speculate.

The article is based on real facts, both the good and bad of A1GP

The good thing is it ends with a positive note. Perhaps we can figure out a way to extract the article so everyone can read it

Bodysnatcher · 2 Jul 2009, 08:41 (Ref:2494909)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackschmidt

I really want to read this article. Unfortunately, Autosport has that funky subscription.

I have a funky subscription, but for those of you who don't part with your cash , say thanks to the Chinese who will copy anything ..

http://bbs.hoopchina.com/725119.html

jackschmidt · 2 Jul 2009, 08:42 (Ref:2494910)

On the topic of bankruptcy, it's nothing new that A1GP gets bad press all the time. I'm choosing not to think about it too much and instead focus on looking for positive A1GP news. That is much more interesting to find (and not to mention, much harder to find too!).

Bodysnatcher · 2 Jul 2009, 09:18 (Ref:2494926)

I don't know Jack(hahah ha) perhaps we should think about A1GP and why it exists (or existed)

A1GP has puzzled me since Sheikh Maktoum dropped it.
I could understand a very rich middle eastern ruler (or at least ruling family) investing in a race series to reflect well on the region by having international sport during the traditional Northern hemisphere off season. Hence Bernie starting GP2 Asia to counter that threat.

What I could not see what a very succesful businessman like Teixeira (look up his past and be very very frightened, especially who his son in law is) hoped to get out of it.

A recent article I heard on BBC Radio 4 about what top level football is reputedly being used for gives a hint.
So, did TT pay Maktoum and in turn RAB capital pay TT?

Just a theory you understand...
In fact motor racing is mentioned too
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...nti-corruption

Kiwi3 · 2 Jul 2009, 10:18 (Ref:2494948)

That's not the first time I have heard that theory. Some prominant F1 journalists strongly believed that theory, which is why they were so anti-A1GP. The journalists in question seem to have more recently mellowed in their views however.

However contrary to the theory...surely if you wanted a channel to be able to shift money across borders then surely there would be easier ways than buying a fleet of Ferrari badged racing cars and Ferrari engines. You would want to do it on the cheap, therefore you would run the Lolas as long as you possibly could. You also wouldn't bother buying air time across Asia.

I also don't believe that this would be lost on the likes of Mark Gallagher or Colin Giltrap, who are smart chaps.

RichardRenes · 2 Jul 2009, 20:04 (Ref:2495180)

Better yet, A1GP and Energem share the London office. But that is the fault with A1GP. It's still run asif it was another mining company.. It is NOT. It's a racing series, so it's time it's run like one. Starting by offering decent merchandise and giving us the PC/ wii/ Sega/ whatever game like Superleague Formula does (which is run by sports marketeers)

jackschmidt · 2 Jul 2009, 23:40 (Ref:2495254)

By the way, thanks very much for the assistance, Richard.

Anyway, the conspiracy theories on this, that's not something I think about because it doesn't particularly help anything nor can I do anything about it. If it's true, then someone would be already on it. Where there's smoke, there's fire.

PTRACER · 6 Jul 2009, 23:59 (Ref:2496959)

So is A1GP going to continue or what?

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