McLaren Racing Sell 15% Stake in F1 Team

It was announced today that McLaren Racing has sold a fifteen percent state to a group investment company in the United States. The deal was confirmed before the Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, with the details of the deal not being made public, although it has been estimated that it was valued at £185 million.

It was no secret that McLaren was searching for additional investors throughout the season. This became more of an issue after the 2020 Formula One season was put on hold due to restrictions relating to the global pandemic. That only further heightened the need for added capital investment for Maclaren due to the financial strain it and other F1 teams were experiencing.

In May of this year, it was announced by the McLaren Group that 1,200 employees would be laid off, of which seventy were part of its F1 operations. Shortly after the announcement, the company announced it had secured a load from the National Bank of Bahrain for £150 million after the United Kingdom government declined to provide them financial assistance.

After securing the deal, the company continued to explore options on ways it could reduce the financial burdens it was experiencing. This included the sale and leaseback of its McLaren Technology Centre, and now the selling of a minority stake in the company to US-based MSP Sports Capital.

McLaren Racing valued at £560 million

As reported by Sy Sports, Maclaren Racing, the injection of investment equity, places the value of the company at an estimated £560 million. The consortium of investors, which is lead by MSP Sports Capital includes UBS O’Connor and private investment firm, The Najafi Companies.

As part of the newly signed deal, founder of MSP Sports Capital Jeff Moorad will join Maclaren Racing as a non-executive director. Morad, who is not new to F1 racing was behind an attempt to purchase Force One before a consortium led by Lawrence Stroll successfully took over the team.

Whether the influx in investment monies will help Maclaren achieve their goal of once again being seen as a top team in Formula One will have to be seen. As new regulations are set to go into effect in 2021, it is expected to level out of the playing field per se and allow for more competitive racing among teams.