Billionaire Shahin family rumoured to be close to Supercars buyout

The car-mad billionaire Shahin brothers Yasser and Sam are rumoured to be in talks to buy the Supercars racing competition.

Billionaire Shahin brothers Yasser and Sam are rumoured to be in talks to buy the Supercars racing competition, fresh off the back of the $1.15bn sale of the OTR business to petrol retailer and refiner Viva Energy.

But Supercars says the business has not been sold, and if a sale was being considered, it would tell its fans.

“Supercars has not been sold and is still owned by RACE,’’ Supercars owner Racing Australia Consolidated Enterprises (RACE) said in a statement.

“If Supercars were to be sold or discussions of that nature were taking place, it would be communicated to fans by Supercars.’’

The Australian has contacted both Shahin brothers for a response however has not heard back as yet.

With the sale of the core of the family petrol and convenience business to Viva scheduled for a final determination by the competition regulator, the ACCC, next month, it appears the brothers could be looking to expand on another core passion in motor racing.

Both Yasser and Sam are accomplished competitive drivers in their own right, and the family has invested well over $100m into the world class motorsport facilities at The Bend at Tailem Bend southeast of Adelaide.

Dr Sam Shahin in his garage at the Bend Motor Sport Park at Tailem Bend. Picture Matt Turner.

The Bend boasts the second longest permanent circuit in the world after Germany’s Nurburgring, and has played host to events such as the Asian Le Mans series and Supercars itself.

Supercars, which includes races such as the Bathurst 1000, is owned by a private consortium - RACE - whose directors include V8 champion Mark Skaife and former QSM Media boss Barclay Nettlefold.

Jure Domazet, the managing director of major family property business Doma is also a director.

The Australian reported in July last year that the consortium rejected a buyout offer at that time from European media and entertainment business FanTech.

That offer included buying out shareholders, taking on $45m in debt and the obligation to pay Supercars team owners about $17m ­annually calculated on a per-car basis, it is understood.

The RACE board rejected the FanTech offer, and in a statement at the time, Mr Nettlefold told The Australian that RACE “has received a number of unsolicited approaches”, but did not comment directly on the FanTech offer.

RACE bought Supercars in November 2021 from Archer Capital, which had owned 60 per cent of the series for more than a decade, in a $70m equity and debt transaction.

The Shahins were reportedly also in the mix to buy Supercars at the time of the sale by Archer.

Sam Shahin, who has led the development of The Bend since its conception in 2014 and construction start in 2016, is passionate about making the site the centrepiece of Australian motor racing and has urged governments to bring Formula E to South Australia.