Bank rejects Ecclestone’s €25m settlement offer

A German bank that once held a major stake in Formula One has rejected Bernie Ecclestone’s offer of a €25m settlement in a dispute over the sale of that stake.

Earlier this week, a Munich court dropped a bribery case against Ecclestone connected to the sale of Munich-based bank BayernLB’s F1 stake in exchange for a £60m (€75m) payment. After hearing more than three months of evidence, the court said it had serious doubts the F1 boss could be convicted of bribery and incitement to breach of trust.

Separately, BayernLB has been keeping open the option of civil proceedings against the 83-year-old. The bank did preparatory work on a damages claim against Ecclestone late last year, but did not file it.

Ecclestone’s lawyers last week offered to pay the bank £20m (€25m), though they said damage to the company was not evident. The bank rejected the offer.

The charges in the now-closed bribery trial centred on a £26m payment by Ecclestone to former BayernLB executive Gerhard Gribkowsky, who is serving an eight-and-a-half-year sentence for taking the money. He was convicted of corruption, tax evasion, and breach of trust.

Ecclestone denied wrongdoing and said Gribkowsky blackmailed him.

In another case related to the sale, German media firm and former F1 shareholder Constantin Medien sued Ecclestone and other defendants for up to £85m, claiming F1 was undervalued at the time of the sale to investment group CVC Capital Partners. The case was dismissed in February, with London’s High Court saying the deal was corrupt but Constantin did not lose out.

BayernLB’s complaints have involved the valuation of the stake and a £24.4m commission paid to Ecclestone.