LONDON (Reuters) - RSE Ventures, which owns the Miami Dolphins NFL team, is joining forces with Qatar to buy a controlling stake in Formula One in a deal worth US$7 billion (S$9.4 billion) to US$8 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

RSE is looking to acquire the 35.5 per cent stake from private equity fund CVC Capital Partners.

The commercial side of Formula One is run by 84-year-old Bernie Ecclestone who has turned the sport into a global money-spinner in more than four decades of deal-making.

CVC has twice tried to float Formula One, most recently in 2013, but the plans stalled and the fund instead sold stakes to US investment groups Blackrock and Waddell & Reed, along with Norway's Norges Bank.