Top motorsport executive Brown quits ‎amid talk of F1 role

A top sports executive is leaving the agency he runs alongside Lord Coe amid suggestions that he could play a key role in the running of Formula One (F1) motor racing after it completes a £6.4bn takeover.

Sky News has learnt that Zak Brown, chief executive of CSM Sport & Entertainment, is quitting the role at the end of the year.

An announcement about his departure is expected in the coming days from Chime Communications (Other OTC: CICPF - news) , CSM's owner, according to people close to the company.

Mr Brown has brought brands including Johnnie Walker, Martini and UBS (LSE: 0QNR.L - news) into F1 by brokering multimillion dollar sponsorship deals.

A prominent figure in motorsport circles‎, he has also attracted a string of blue-chip corporate names into Indycar and Nascar racing in the US.

Mr Brown is a colleague of Lord Coe, the IAAF president and former British Olympic gold medallist, who is CSM's executive chairman.

‎The timing of Mr Brown's departure from CSM will fuel speculation that he may eventually take on a leading role within F1 after its takeover by Liberty Media Corporation, the New York-listed media group.

Liberty's purchase of F1, through a complicated deal that will see its existing investors remain as part-owners for some time, was announced earlier this month.

Chase Carey, a long-standing ally‎ of Rupert Murdoch and non-executive director of Sky plc (Frankfurt: 893517 - news) , the owner of Sky News, has already been installed as chairman of F1's parent company.

Reports have suggested that he wants to bring in executives to run F1's commercial and sporting operations,‎ raising questions about the future of its long-serving chief executive, Bernie Ecclestone.

Mr Brown founded JMI, a motorsport marketing agency, in 1995, selling it to Chime in 2013, and he could yet take on another motorsport role unconnected to F1.

Providence Equity Partners, a private equity investor, led a deal to take Chime off the stock market last year.

Mr Brown is expected to retain an association with CSM by chairing its advisory board and JMI.

His successor is understood to be in the process of being recruited.

Neither Mr Brown nor Chime could be reached for comment on Sunday night.