By Jerry Jordan, Editor
CONCORD, N.C. – There haven’t been many public comments since NASCAR made an offer to buy its publicly-traded sister company, International Speedway Corporation, back in November but the CEO of the Speedway Motorsports Inc., Marcus Smith, said the move is a good thing and shows
“I think it is just a great statement about the strength of NASCAR that not only the France family wants to invest more in the sport but this sport has tremendous entertainment value,” Smith told kickinthetires.net/. “You know fans from all over the world love it and it underlines and makes even more significant how great of a sport this is.”
Because Smith is at the helm of the sport’s other publicly-traded company, he is limited in what he can say about the potential that NASCAR could also make a play for SMI, stressing that he wasn’t going to address “hypotheticals.”
Instead, he said he believes NASCAR has a great future and puts a great product on the track and the buyout proposal won’t impact SMI.
“I don’t see any connection there, I think it is really more about the overall sport,” he said. “It has a great history and a great future.”
Last week, on ISC’s quarterly earnings call for shareholders, the company was asked several times about the status of negotiations with NASCAR but declined each time. Because Lesa France serves as the CEO and vice-chairperson of ISC and because the France family are major shareholders of the company, an independent committee is studying the proposal, which was originally said to be valued at $1.9 billion. At the time the original offer was made, ISC stock was trading at $39.06 per share and the NASCAR offer was equivalent to $42 per share. The stock closed Wednesday at $43.64 a share.
NASCAR has hired Goldman Sachs and Baker Botts to help with negotiations and legal strategy to reach a mutual agreement with the ISC shareholders. The special committee reviewing the NASCRA offer is made up of independent board members because the NASCAR is a privately-held company owned by the France family.
Does someone pay these people to lie through their teeth?
EDITOR’S NOTE: I don’t see where this is a bad thing and I don’t know why you would think someone is lying. Despite the haters, NASCAR isn’t dying. As times change, companies have to adapt and some face more obstacles than others.