Shareholders are set to vote on whether to accept a takeover put forward by the Open Wheel Racing Series – a group headed up by CART shareholder Gerry Forsythe.
It had always been expected the vote would take place by the end of November or early December, but the lateness of the vote now has raised eyebrows at the increasing short lead-in time it will give teams and sponsors to prepare for the new season. Especially if the vote is further delayed.
However, CART insists a decision will be made prior to the end of the year.
The announcement by CART of when the vote will take place follows comments received from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to it preliminary proxy statement relating to the proposed merger with Open Wheel, submitted early last month.
Said a CART statement: “CART intends to respond promptly to the comments made by the SEC to the proxy statement and resubmit the revised proxy statement to the SEC later this week.
“Championship intends to finalise the proxy statement and mail it to its stockholders as soon as practicable and to set a meeting date for a shareholder vote prior to year-end.
“The meeting could take place as early as December 18, although there can be no assurance that it will not be later.”
CART and the Open Wheel Racing Series company have signed a definitive agreement which would see Open Wheel buying currently outstanding CART stock at $0.56 per share – with the deal subject to a number of conditions, among them shareholder approval.
Open Wheel Racing Series is a newly formed holding company owned indirectly by a group of investors including Gerry Forsythe, Kevin Kalkhoven and Paul Gentilozzi.
Forsythe or entities owned or controlled by him currently have beneficial ownership of 3,377,400 shares of CART common stock, approximately 22.9 percent of the outstanding shares.
These shares will be contributed to Open Wheel Racing Series rather than acquired for cash. Open Wheel Racing Series has previously stated that, if the transaction is completed, it intends to continue to operate the business of CART.
