NeXovation files EU complaint over sale of Nuerburgring

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - U.S.-based investment company NeXovation said on Friday it had filed a complaint with European Union antitrust authorities contesting the outcome of an auction of Germany's historic Nuerburgring race track. NeXovation told authorities that its 150 million-euro (124.42 million pounds) cash offer for the racetrack had not been given proper consideration. Nuerburgring, which became insolvent in 2012, was sold last month by its court-appointed administrator to Capricorn Group, a motor-sport industry supplier, for more than 100 million euros. In a statement released in Germany, NeXovation CEO Robert Sexton said its complaint centred on the sellers' indication to NeXovation that the winning bid would not be decided until due diligence was complete on March 31, 2014, and the bidders had time to finish their financing commitments. However, the sale was awarded on March 11. "One of our concerns is that the representatives of some of these stakeholders on the creditors' committee may have pushed ahead with their decision based on incorrect or incomplete information or assertions," Sexton said. A spokeswoman for Thomas Schmidt, the administrator tasked with overseeing the auction process, said: "We take note of NeXovation's press release. We have not received a complaint. For reasons of confidentiality we cannot comment in detail on the auction process. The comments made in the press statement are not valid. The investor process was conducted in an orderly fashion. NeXovation was not selected as a bidder." (Reporting by Marilyn Gerlach and Edward Taylor; Editing by Larry King)