Sunday April 15th, 2001

British American Tobacco Plc (BAT) has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to look into a possible sale of their Formula One motor racing team, the Sunday Telegraph said in an unsourced report.

The tobacco giant's review would consider all options, including selling all or part of the British American Racing team, whose drivers are Jacques Villeneuve and Olivier Panis, the report added.

Last year, newspapers reported that British American Racing's management had held talks with private equity firms on buying the racing team for 120 million pounds ($172 million) in a bid to gain greater control of the operation from BAT.

The Formula One team have not done well so far this season. Going into Sunday's San Marino Grand Prix, Canadian Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion, had still to score a point.

French team mate Panis, who joined the team this season, took three points at the last race in Brazil.

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(03-11-2005): Australian GP Paddock Gossip (03-09-2005): Greece Finds Site for Formula One Track (03-09-2005): Red Bull Set to Get Honda Engines in 2006 (03-08-2005): Schumacher in Line for Sporting Oscars (03-07-2005): Daily Grapevine Sunday Analysis - Australia

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