By Alan Baldwin
LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) - Former Red Bull Formula One boss Christian Horner is advising Oakley Capital on investments in premium sports, the private equity firm said on Thursday.
Horner, 52, was sacked by Red Bull last July but is widely expected to return to Formula One and has been linked to a number of possible opportunities.
"Oakley Capital has established a strong reputation across the sports and consumer landscape and I look forward to working together in the future and sharing
my experience to help support the next generation of standout sports businesses,” Horner said in a statement.
Oakley invests in private, pan-European businesses with enterprise values ranging from €100 million ($116.30 million) to more than €1 billion.
The firm's existing sports investments include Ben Ainslie's British America's Cup 'Challenger of Record' GB1, high-performance padel racket maker NOX, Vice Golf and marine action business North Sails.
"Christian Horner is widely recognised as a highly successful leader in global sport," said Oakley Capital founder Peter Dubens.
"His track record, expertise and commercial instinct will be invaluable as we continue to scale our sports portfolio.
"We are increasingly drawn to businesses in this space that share the hallmarks of a typical Oakley investment: founder-led, high-growth and supported by resilient revenues, or under-commercialised ‘scarce’ assets with significant untapped potential."
ALPINE FORMULA ONE STAKE AND BYD
Horner, who left Red Bull with a reported £80 million ($107.58 million) payoff, has been linked to a 24% stake in the Alpine Formula One team held by investors led by Otro Capital.
Otro's group of investors includes RedBird Capital Partners and Maximum Effort Investments, Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney as well as NFL star Patrick Mahomes and golfer Rory McIlroy.
The former Red Bull boss, now free to work in Formula One again after a period of 'gardening leave', has also been linked to leading Chinese car maker BYD, which has expressed an interest in F1.
That could be as a sponsor, investor or taking the 12th and final remaining slot on the starting grid.
Horner attended a BYD event in Cannes at the weekend, where he met senior management and was photographed with the company's vice-president Stella Li.
BYD is also known to have had informal meetings with Formula One and the governing FIA.
"I think they are looking at this in a different way," FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem told Reuters this month of Chinese interest. "They see that the impact of motorsport is good for them.
"I had some meetings with them. They want to be partners with the FIA and other things on the mobility side.
"If a team comes from China, we welcome them. And I'm sure I have the full support from FOM (Formula One)."
Setting up a new team would be a massive and costly exercise, potentially requiring billions of investment, but Horner has experience in starting up Red Bull Powertrains to provide Red Bull with their own engine.
Horner has also recently attended MotoGP and Formula E events.
($1 = 0.8598 euros)
($1 = 0.7436 pounds)
(Reporting by Alan BaldwinEditing by Toby Davis)
