Thursday February 24th, 2000

Deutsche Bank's Morgan Grenfell Private Equity is negotiating to sell its 12.5 percent of Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One for $550 million (342 million pounds), The Times reported on Thursday.

Italian broadcaster Mediaset was understood to have approached Deutsche with the offer this week but no conclusion had been reached, the Times said.

The price sought is twice what Morgan Grenfell paid for the stake last October.

Earlier this month, Ecclestone agreed to sell 37.5 percent of Formula One - which owns the broadcasting rights to Grand Prix races - to U.S. private equity firm Hellman and Friedman for $1.0 billion (625 million pounds).

Ecclestone has been working on floating Formula One but his plans were put on hold after the European Commission launched an inquiry into the way the sport is run and its television deals.