A change in ownership of Sauber Motorsport may be in the pipeline, as a company headed up by Michael Andretti is closing in on a deal to purchase some 80 percent of Islero Investments. Islero investments are a company that were set up to take ownership of Sauber Motorsport, and fall under the umbrella of the Longbow Finance group that purchased Sauber outright in 2016. Sauber have thrived in the years since that purchase, becoming the operator of the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team – a deal that was recently extended on a new long-term basis . Andretti has shown interest in entering Formula 1 for some time, and RacingNews365.com understands that the sale is currently in the process of being closed, with his company shelling out around €350 million euros to take control of Sauber Motorsport and Sauber Engineering. Previously, Andretti were named on documents pertaining to the court case between Uralkali and Racing Point last year. Andretti were one of the four parties who expressed interest in purchasing Force India at the time that they went into administration, during the summer of 2018. At the time, they submitted a bid of £28.5 million to the administrators, some way short of the ultimate sale price to Racing Point. Andretti already operates an IndyCar team, one of the front-running teams in the championship, as well as a Formula E team, and an entry into Extreme E. However, at this point, the Andretti organisation have declined to confirm that the sale is imminent. "As is no secret, Formula 1 has been of interest to Michael and the team for some time," said an Andretti spokesperson when approached for comment by RacingNews365.com . "We've explored and come close on many options over the years, but we have nothing new to report. "Our passion is racing, in all forms. Should a proper opportunity come along to take the Andretti name back to F1, we'd jump at it. But as of now, that opportunity has not fallen in our laps and our focus remains on our seven current disciplines of competition." A Sauber/Alfa Romeo spokesperson would neither confirm nor deny the situation when asked by RacingNews365.com , instead declining to comment.
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