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KOBLENZ, Germany - Germany's Nurburgring has been sold to motorsport industry supplier Capricorn Group for more than the equivalent of R15-billionand so ended a months-long search to find a new owner for the world's longest racetrack.
It was declared bankrupt in 2012.
The track's administrator, Jens Lieser, told a news media conference on March 11 2014: "Capricorn's offer beat that of rival HIG Capital. It was a close decision."
The deal includes a pledge to invest the equivalent of R37.6-billion to expand the road track's facilities.
GOOD DEAL
Assets include an amusement park and two racetracks: a modern 5.1km F1 circuit and the Nordschleife, a treacherous 20.8km circuit with 73 bends built in 1927 and now used by the auto industry to hone vehicle dynamics. It was also available to the public for a hefty fee.
German-based Capricorn supplies high-end crankshafts, cylinder liners, pistons, connecting rods and fibre-reinforced composite materials to motorsport and wants to develop the Nurburging as a technology centre.
Previous efforts to turn the property into a resort for car fanatics faltered after the company went bang under a debt load equal to about 50 years of annual profit.
South Korean automaker Hyundai spent nearly seven million euros building a trackside test centre, one of five automakers to do so, in the hope of narrowing the perceived gap to European rivals in ride and handling.
German automakers, in particular, have long had an affinity with the track. Daimler traces its Silver Arrows' heritage back to the 1934 Eifel Race around the Nordschleife (English: Northern Loop) which it won after its Mercedes team famously scraped the car's white paintwork off the metal body to save weight.
It was declared bankrupt in 2012.
The track's administrator, Jens Lieser, told a news media conference on March 11 2014: "Capricorn's offer beat that of rival HIG Capital. It was a close decision."
The deal includes a pledge to invest the equivalent of R37.6-billion to expand the road track's facilities.
GOOD DEAL
Assets include an amusement park and two racetracks: a modern 5.1km F1 circuit and the Nordschleife, a treacherous 20.8km circuit with 73 bends built in 1927 and now used by the auto industry to hone vehicle dynamics. It was also available to the public for a hefty fee.
German-based Capricorn supplies high-end crankshafts, cylinder liners, pistons, connecting rods and fibre-reinforced composite materials to motorsport and wants to develop the Nurburging as a technology centre.
Previous efforts to turn the property into a resort for car fanatics faltered after the company went bang under a debt load equal to about 50 years of annual profit.
South Korean automaker Hyundai spent nearly seven million euros building a trackside test centre, one of five automakers to do so, in the hope of narrowing the perceived gap to European rivals in ride and handling.
German automakers, in particular, have long had an affinity with the track. Daimler traces its Silver Arrows' heritage back to the 1934 Eifel Race around the Nordschleife (English: Northern Loop) which it won after its Mercedes team famously scraped the car's white paintwork off the metal body to save weight.
