Liberty Media, the owners of Formula 1, are reportedly in exclusive talks to buy Dorna, the MotoGP rights holder, for more than €4bn.

report that a deal is "close" which💞 would unite the🐬 world's top car and motorcycle racing series under the same banner.

An announcement could come as e𝔉arly as next week, the report claims.

Liberty Media beat a rival bid from TKO🦩, the company which owns UFC and W🦹WE.

Qatar Sport✱s Investments, who own football club Paris-Saint Germain, also held talks with Bridgepoint, the privaty equity firm involved in MotoGP.

B𝐆ut a dealౠ between Liberty Media and Dorna would likely face regulatory scrutiny, the report states.

F1 and MotoGP were once both owned by the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. But CVC were forced to sell MotoGP when they bought into F1 due to EU regulations.

James Killick, a competition lawyer at White &ꦰ; Case, told the Fi༺nancial Times that probes into the deal between Liberty Media and Dorna are "quite likely".

“I’d be very surprised if competition regulators didn’t look at it”, he said. “The question is, 🅰has the market changed?”

The shareholders of Dorna, who own MotoGP rights, are Bridgepoint, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Carmelo 🐟Ezpeleta who works as Dorna CEO.

Liberty Media have been credited with helping 💃F1's growth since their takeover in 2017.

The Netfli🌱x series 'Drive To Survive' has enabled the fanbase to grow, while F1 has also prioritised impact via social media𒀰.

The F1 calendar has also grown under Libertꩵy Media's leadership, and now includes races in La♔s Vegas, Miami, Jeddah and Doha.

The Financial Times reports that F1's operating profit in 2023 was $392m, a 64% growth🍸 from 2022. Revenue grew from $2.5bn to $3.2bn.

Dorna's revenue was €483m in 2023, by contrast.