Liberty Media paying $4.4 billion to take over Formula One

Longtime commercial chief Bernie Ecclestone (pictured above) will remain the chief executive officer of F1, although the 85-year-old will have to work under a new chairman - Chase Carey, the executive vice chairman of Rupert Murdoch's entertainment conglomerate 21st Century Fox.

Carey said in a statement that he sees opportunity to develop the franchise.

Liberty said it had initially purchased a 18.7 percent stake for $746 million. F1's biggest current shareholder - the private equity fund CVC Capital Partners - and the other sellers will still own 65 percent of F1. A buyout is expected to be completed by March 2017.

The company says the deal values Formula One at $8 billion, including debt.

Malone also owns the Major League Baseball team Atlanta Braves and has stakes in radio company Sirius XM and European telecom company Liberty Global, US cable company Charter and various cable TV companies. "There's lots of new things we are going to have to start putting into place, bringing them up to speed ... I am very, very happy that they can come in and do things (for the sport)," Ecclestone told The Associated Press.

The sport returned to the US in 2012 after a five-year absence, with Austin hosting the race under the current deals. "I have been trying to do things in America for years but not very successfully," Ecclestone said. "We tried, but maybe they are the people that can get it done."

jbh/kl (AP, dpa)