Jaguar Land Rover, a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors, has been linked with £25m purchase of Silverstone.

Just weeks after (Silverstone owner) BRDC president, Derek Warwick, claimed there was no rush to sell the Grand Prix venue, BRDC chairman, John Grant, has suggested the opposite.

"Our balance sheet is still too weak to support a high-risk £50m-plus turnover business and we have no cash reserves to fund future development of the circuit," Grant told BRDC members in a letter on Friday, according to the Daily Mail.

This comes months after Silverstone managing director, Patrick Allen, admitted: "What you really need is somebody who wants to buy a trophy asset and is willing to put a large amount of equity in."

The Jaguar Land Rover deal, which is worth £25m, and will be discussed by BRDC members this week, would see the circuit become home to over a thousand members of staff, along with a hotel and heritage centre.

In 2014, property experts Jones Lang Lasalle, valued the facility at £22.9m.

The circuit, which in 2009 secured a new 17-year deal to host the Grand Prix, has been hit by a number of issues not least the loss of rental income after leasing 280 acres of surrounding land to business park operator MEPC in an attempt to clear its debts.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by petes, 19/02/2016 1:44

"Hadn't realised Tata was one of those companies. Wonder how I missed that......"

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2. Posted by Paul C, 16/02/2016 2:04

"British heritage companies should manage the British heritage track. It is sort of like Honda and Suzuka"

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3. Posted by Malbec, 15/02/2016 12:01

"From the BRDC's point of view they would presumably retain the freehold of their club house as well as the management and promotion of race meetings."

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4. Posted by Malbec, 15/02/2016 11:59

"This Jaguar-Land Rover proposed buy out of Silverstone would make a lot of financial sense for both parties and one would hope that the BRDC members don't scupper he deal with long delays in seeing through the deal. In the long term it will ensure the financial stability of the circuit and the British GP. From JLR point of view it will give JLR a first class facility and by selling off what could be redundant real estate in Coventry or Gaydon it could be funded with minimal cost. Strong JLR management controls would see that past BRD
disasters such as the Wing would not happen again. From the BRDC's point of view they would presumably "

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Jaguar Land Rover to buy Silverstone?

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