CHAMPCAR/CART: CART Announces IPO

Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. Announces IPO CART Online (March 9, 1998) -- Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. (NYPE: OPW) today announced that its initial public offering of 4,700,000 shares of Common Stock was priced at $16 per share. The Company’s Common Stock will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "OPW". Of the 4,700,000 shares of Common Stock being offered, 4,333,334 shares are being offered by the Company and an aggregate of 366,666 shares are being offered by certain selling stockholders of the Company. After the offering (and assuming no exercise of the over-allotment option), there will be 14,466,666 shares of Common Stock outstanding. The net proceeds from the offering (before any exercise of the over-allotment option), after deducting underwriting commissions and expenses, are expected to be $63,330,010. The Company intends to use $10.0 million of the net proceeds to purchase the Indy Lights racing series, the official development series of CART, and $9.5 million to pay certain obligations owed to existing race teams. The balance of the net proceeds will be used for working capital and other general corporate purposes, including funding future acquisitions and developing racing related businesses and properties. Jefferies & Company, Inc. and A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. served as managing underwriters for the offering. Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. owns, operates and sanctions the premier open-wheel motorsports series in North America, the FedEx Championship Series, formerly known as the PPG CART World Series, and is responsible for organizing, marketing and staging each of the 19 races in the FedEx Championship. With speeds up to 240 miles per hour, and an average margin of victory during the 1997 race season of less than four seconds, CART open-wheel racing is the fastest form of closed-circuit auto racing available to motorsports audiences, providing intense excitement and competition. A copy of the written prospectus can be obtained from Jefferies & Company, Inc., Syndicate Department, 650 Fifth Ave, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10019. The securities are offered only by means of a written prospectus and this announcement is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy. Source: CART Online