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What is the current structure of your business? What are the
main fields of activity? What are the skills on offer to drivers,
teams, factories working in motorsports?
«LCA is a dynamic and internationally oriented environment. It is
specialized in legal assistance to businesses and is located in Italy, in
Milan (headquarters), Genoa and Treviso (in the H‐Farm), and in the
UAE in Dubai. We are a multipractice office offering a wide spectrum
of services. LCA basically assists businesses. And the auto factories are
businesses. The team are structured as companies. The drivers are real
companies with even respectable budgets. The main actors in
motorsports are an ideal target for structured operations like we are.
Our company law department follow factories and teams from start to
finish, not only relating to extraordinary operations, like the change of
ownership of Tatuus, but also to day‐by‐day operations, from the
distribution of cars to the relationship with suppliers and customers,
the management of all the legal corporate matters. Our intellectual
property department has a lot of experience in setting up sponsorship
and image rights contracts for drivers and other celebrities. It
manages brand portfolios of sportsmen and companies, even outside
motorsports, and protects inventions and innovations from the
factories and teams, copywriting the technical solutions used. Of
course, in a world dominated by media, we also deal with TV rights
and our labour law department have been managing driver
contracts for years now. Also, our litigation department focuses
on sports‐related controversies and has substantial experience
in the matter».
Can you explain what the funds that have become so
important in Motorsport are, and how they do
operate?
«If we have to simplify, private equity funds collect
capitals from private citizens and institutional investors
(banks, foundations and insurance companies) and
invests in unlisted companies with high margin of
growth. The goal of this kind of fund is to partner the
target company in a growth plan before selling it with a
profit or listing it on the stock market».
Have you followed the recent acquisition of Formula 1
by Liberty Media Group? How many parties are
involved in such a deal?
«Certainly it has been one of the most important operations
of the last few years in sports business with an enterprise
value of 8 billion dollars and and equity value of 4.4 billion
dollars. The main parties in this kind of talks are obviously
the buying fund, the sellers and their financial and legal
advisors».
Let's imagine an ipothetical contract between a driver and a
team. Where do you start from, what are the conditions to get
sorted, what are the tricks?
«The tricks vary according to the assisted party. If you assist the team
you will try to “exploit” the driver as much as you can with the less
possible warranties. When you assist the driver you try to get as many
concessions as you can not only in terms of money, but also in terms
of safeguards. The main matters approached are the duration of the
deal and the salary, the prizes for results (podiums or championships)
the image rights for both the team and driver, sponsorships,
merchandising, insurance, the cost for the driver's assistants. Then
you go into some apparently insignificant details that are indeed
pretty important like the ownership of the trophies, the type of space
dedicated to the driver in the paddock, the number of passes that the
driver can give out to partners and sponsors».
You also operate in Dubai. How did this connection start and
how did you learn Arabic? Is the Middle East an interesting
market for motorsports?
«My interest towards the Middle East started with a simple experience
that turned into a professional occasion. As a kid I lived for nine years
in Tunisia. In 2016, seeing that the interest of clients towards the
middle east was growing, LCA decided to establish a base in
Dubai, which is the main hub of the whole area. It is a bridge
between east and west. Certainly, the Middle East is a key
market for motorsports and for the automotive world in general.
Big part of the luxury cars sold around the world are in that area
and that two Formula 1 grand prix r are held there
(Bahrain, Abu Dhabi). Plus, Ferrari launched its own
theme park which was since awarded the Middle East's
Leading Tourist Attraction prize at the 2015 and 2016
World Travel Awards, and there is an Arabian Formula 4
series running since 2016. All of that, together, clearly
shows how interesting the area can be for motorsports
and for autos as well”.
Stefano Semeraro