Why the State Could Sell the Circuito do Estoril for €6.9 Million

This week, Jornal de Negócios published the findings of a working group tasked with identifying, among the 110 companies in which the State holds stakes, which ones lack strategic interest and should therefore be sold.

The working group’s recommendation on the Circuito do Estoril

Among the 110 entities reviewed is CE - Circuito Estoril, S.A., the company that manages, operates and owns the Estoril Circuit in its entirety. According to the study, it is not considered strategically important, so a sale is recommended. Based on the figures reported by Negócios and derived from the study, the disposal could bring the State roughly €6.9 million.

Why that amount rather than another? I have no idea. The working group has not yet published the valuation methods used to reach the final figure. Still, it struck me as a pleasantly round number-so pleasant, in fact, that I went looking on an online property listings site, Idealista (mainly because PiscaPisca doesn’t do houses yet), to see what about €7 million would buy you in that area. Don’t get too excited…

What €6.9 million buys around Cascais

It doesn’t stretch to all that much. One of the options that came up was a stunning four-bedroom flat right in the centre of Carcavelos, in the municipality of Cascais-absolutely immaculate, or if you prefer, truly swish-priced at €7.9 million. In other words, €1 million more than the estimated proceeds from selling the Estoril Circuit.

But I don’t want to rig the comparison. If the figure is €6.9 million, then €6.9 million it is. With that in mind, I found a six-bedroom house in Monte Estoril on the market for €6.75 million. As you can tell, I had assumed you’d be able to throw a slightly bigger party with that kind of money.

It’s true that both properties come with very generous floor space (I left links to both), but even so they feel a long way short of what Portugal’s legendary circuit offers.

What the Estoril Circuit actually includes

The Estoril Autodrome covers 52 hectares. The track is 4,183 metres long and includes a straight of approximately 986 metres.

The facilities include a main paddock of 24,500 m², a support paddock of 58,000 m², 30 garages, three technical garages, a control tower, a medical centre and a heliport. It does not have a swimming pool. And don’t tell me it would be ridiculous for the Estoril Circuit to have one, because the Algarve International Autodrome does.

Property versus company (and why it still feels cheap)

If you want to treat this more seriously-and that wasn’t my aim, as you’ve probably gathered-you’ll say these are not comparable things. You’ll argue that I’m contrasting buying a property with buying a company. That’s not the same, and you’re right.

Anyone who buys CE - Circuito Estoril, S.A. isn’t purchasing only land, tarmac and buildings. They are also taking on a business: contracts, employees, obligations, maintenance costs, investment needs, and liabilities of around €3 million. The annual accounts are public, so you can look them up as well.

But don’t ruin the exercise for me. Even allowing for all those differences, the Estoril Circuit still looks like a bargain. And given the way it has been treated, it sometimes even seems as though it has no value at all…

From my point of view, you wouldn’t need any working group to see that, in the right hands, the Estoril Circuit has a future. That’s why I hope Parpública finally sells control and ownership of the circuit to someone with the capital, the competence and a project worthy of its history.

I also hope Cascais Town Council keeps the land classification in the municipal master plan (PDM) aligned with the purpose it has served since 1972: hosting races, energising the region and writing some of the finest chapters in the history of Portuguese motor sport. On this point, we can usually rely on the good old inertia of local government. I don’t know whether that’s true in Cascais or not.

Either way, it would be a real shame to see the main straight of this historic Portuguese circuit turned into an avenue inside a luxury gated development. If that day comes, it will be because we understood far too late what the circuit was worth.