Formula 1 owner Liberty Media Corporation is closing in on an eye-watering £3.5 billion deal to buy MotoGP's parent company. Liberty is in exclusive talks with Dorna Sports, S.L. over the potential purchase, reports the Financial Times. However, any deal that is struck is likely to face regulatory scrutiny due to European Union competition rules.

Owning both F1 and MotoGP, the world's premiere single-seater and motorbike motorsport categories respectively, could run the risk of violating those regulations. Previous F1 owner CVC Capital Partners was once also in charge of MotoGP, but was forced to sell off the latter in 2006. CVC sold F1's commercial rights to Liberty Media in 2017 in a deal worth around £6.5 billion.

Now, they are looking to reunite the two categories with a deal to buy several motorcycle racing series through their potential purchase of Dorna.