CUP: Petty Completes RPM Takeover

Sprint Cup

CUP: Petty Completes RPM Takeover

Richard Petty Motorsports will field entries for AJ Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose next season...

Bob Pockrass | http://www.scenedaily.com | Posted November 29, 2010 Charlotte, NC

AJ Allmendinger will continue to drive the iconic No. 43 car next season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Richard Petty has completed his takeover of Richard Petty Motorsports as he and new partners Medallion Financial Group and DGB Investments have purchased the assets of the race team from George Gillett, according to an RPM news release.

Petty, a member of the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and winner of seven Cup titles and 200 races, will serve as chairman and will be actively involved in overseeing the day-to-day operations of the organization, which will field Fords for drivers AJ Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose next year.

The team was in jeopardy of folding as Gillett, the majority shareholder in the team, had to restructure a $90 million loan last April. Having sold the NHL Montreal Canadiens in 2009, Gillett saw the Liverpool soccer team he co-owned sold over his objection in October for a price he felt undervalued the team.

The week after the sale, RPM employees were told their jobs couldn’t be guaranteed through the end of the season for what was then a four-car operation.

By that time, Petty, who owned only a small portion of the team, began working to find investors to purchase the racing assets but not be saddled with the debt. Petty put together the group of Murstein's Medallion – a publicly traded investment company – and DGB Investments, which is led by VeriFone Systems CEO Douglas Bergeron.

“George and [son] Foster Gillett deserve a great deal of credit for running a successful race team,” said Petty, whose Petty Enterprises merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports after the 2008 season. “They made a significant investment into the business and helped get back into victory lane.

“Going forward, we have put together an all-star ownership team consisting of myself, Medallion, and VeriFone CEO Doug Bergeron. … Our partnership with Andy Murstein and Doug Bergeron will help take us to a whole new level and I could not be more excited about our future.”

As part of the purchase of racing assets, the debt was paid at "a big discount off of that" $90 million, said Medallion Financial Group President Andrew Murstein.

Richard Petty will serve as chairman of Richard Petty Motorsports and will be actively involved in overseeing day-to-day operations of the company. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Murstein had looked into purchasing Evernham Motorsports, Robert Yates Racing and Petty Enterprises in the past – and those three companies eventually became Richard Petty Motorsports through mergers and buyouts the last three years.

"It was a perfect storm from our perspective," Murstein said in a phone interview Monday. "When we looked at all three of the properties three years ago, the combined purchase price was well north of $100 million. The new price was well south of $100 million."

Bergeron, in a phone interview Monday, said Murstein approached him about the deal. Murstein, whose company was built on owning licenses to operate taxis in New York City and other metropolitan areas, knew Bergeron through VeriFone’s purchase of a taxi advertising company that Medallion originally owned and then sold to Clear Channel Communications.

Bergeron and Murstein said their investment companies together own more than 50 percent of Richard Petty Motorsports, and Medallion owns the most of any of the shareholders.

“Andy and I together own the majority of the team, and the three of us are not far off as far as percentage of ownership,” Bergeron said.

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