McLaren to sell stake in F1 team to US investors in deal worth £560m
British racing team McLaren is selling a minority stake of the company to a consortium of US-based investors.
MSP Sports Capital which has invested in Major League Baseball, NBA basketball and sports broadcaster ESPN, will inject £185m ($245m) by the end of 2022 in a deal that values the British racing outfit at £560m.
The deal will see MSP initial take a 15% holding that will rise to a maximum 33% in two years.
McLaren Racing chief Zak Brown said that the investment “bolsters our plan to return to contention for wins and championships in F1 and IndyCar.”
Brown said MSP Sports Capital was "first and foremost a sports investor [which has] considerable experience and proven success in global sports properties.”
Private investment firm The Najafi Companies and UBS O'Connor, a hedge fund subsidiary of Swiss investment bank UBS are among the investors in the group.
As part of the transaction, one of the consortium's principals, Jahm Najafi, chairman and chief executive of The Najafi Companies, will become a vice-chairman of McLaren Racing. Najafi said the investors "feel very comfortable” and that they “don’t have any concerns” about the financial capability of McLaren.
Under the deal, Jeff Moorad, principal of MSP, and Rodrigo Trelles Zabala of UBS O'Connor will join the McLaren Racing board as non-executive directors. "We're committed to assist the team in accomplishing its objective of returning to the front of the grid," Moorad said.
The consortiums funding will come over three years, with F1 drawing down as much as it needs in the first two. In the final year, MSP will inject an additional £25m if needed.
MSP will take four seats on the newly enlarged board of McLaren racing
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McLaren is the latest F1 team to offload a significant share after recent takeover of Williams Grand Prix Holdings by Dorilton Capital in a deal which ended the eponymous family's decades-long connection with the firm.
It comes as the coronavirus pandemic has hit the company which had been already struggling before the crisis.
The agreement for its F1 team does not affect the ownership of McLaren Automotive. The division of McLaren Group which makes luxury road cars was highly profitable prior to the COVID-19 crisis.
Brown oversaw a turnaround in the team’s performance since joining in 2016. The McLaren team climbed from ninth to sixth before finishing fourth in 2019. McLaren’s last championship came in 2008, when Lewis Hamilton still drove for the team.
McLaren was founded in 1963 by its namesake Bruce McLaren, it is one of the most famous names in British motorsport. The car marquee has won the constructors' championship eight times during half a century of competing in F1. Its drivers have included the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Mika Hakkinen, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.
The team has won 180 Grands Prix, three Indianapolis 500s and the Le Mans 24 Hours on its debut, in total.
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