Bahrain Will Reportedly Take Full Control Of McLaren Very Soon
This follows a deal between Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund and McLaren
We all know that British supercar maker, McLaren, has not had the best run but it could soon have a new owner to change all that. A new report says that an announcement could come as soon as this week revealing Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat Holding Company, will take full control of McLaren Group.
The fund, wholly owned by the government, is reportedly negotiating a buyout with the remaining shareholders and while this may blindside some, it actually makes sense. Lest, some of you forget, the brand already had to sell some cars from its “heritage collection,” which were supposed to be unsold last year.
Moreover, this time last year, Mumtalakat had a nearly 60 percent stake in McLaren and expanded its control earlier in 2023. The fund and other investors have been a vital source of cash for McLaren in recent years, helping to keep the operation running as the company faced numerous production hurdles.
Remember how I said the brand had to sell some of its historic vehicles in 2022? Well, this was to fund the development upgrades for the delayed Artura supercar. Mumtalakat allegedly paid 100 million pounds (roughly RM583,815,900) for an undisclosed number of historic vehicles, including a Formula One championship car.
McLaren has also suffered from supply chain issues as a result of the global pandemic not too long ago, and ended up selling its headquarters and F1 factory in April 2021. It earned USD240 million (around RM1,106,760,000) in the deal while remaining the tenant for the next 20 years. Poor McLaren.
On top of that, an October report from The Telegraph revealed that McLaren had received about 600 million pounds (about RM3,504,740,000) from its various investors since July 2022. Some 370 million pounds (roughly RM1,706,255,000) arrived between March and September of this year after the company ended 2022 with 349 million pounds (around RM1,609,413,500) in losses.
McLaren is undergoing restructuring to simplify its business and has named Michael Leiters its new CEO in July 2022, who admitted a few months after his appointment that its past products were “non-mature.” A single owner like Mumtalakat could help bring stability and focus to the company.
McLaren Racing oversees the company’s Formula One endeavors and has its own group of private investors so let’s hope that while the company does undergo restructuring, it doesn’t lose its identity as the brand’s supercars are really cool looking so I hope this does not change.
We got all this from Motor 1 and their full article is linked here. Thank you Motor 1 for the information and images.
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