Mumtalakat takes full ownership of McLaren
Bahrain’s sovereign fund Mumtalakat has taken full ownership of the share capital of McLaren Group, after the completion of a capital reorganisation process, first announced in December last year.
According to a statement issued yesterday by McLaren, under the reorganisation, Mumtalakat becomes the sole shareholder of the company, following the conversion of all preference shares into ordinary shares.
“Today’s announcement crystallises the next phase of the company’s trajectory of growing its leadership position in the luxury super car and motorsports industries,” Mumtalakat chief executive Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said in the statement.
“This reorganisation and new simplified structure positions McLaren for success and opens up strategic avenues, which include exploring new partnerships to enhance the company’s growth over the coming years.
“The completion of this process is also a significant milestone that reflects our support for McLaren’s continued innovation and long-term commitment to excellence.”
Over the last six decades, the McLaren brand has become one of the most successful in elite motorsport, competing around the world in Formula 1, IndyCar, Formula E, Extreme E and esports.
Since the inception of the company’s supercar arm in 2011, McLaren Automotive has quickly grown to become one of the world’s leading high-performance vehicle brands, with vehicles such as the P1, Senna and Speedtail now widely considered to be modern-day classics and icons of innovation.
Today, the company’s product portfolio of GT, supercar, Motorsport and Ultimate models is retailed through an expanding network of more than 100 retailers in 40-plus markets around the world.
“We are delighted at Mumtalakat’s continued commitment to McLaren through this deal, which strengthens our ownership and governance structure,” McLaren group executive chairman Paul Walsh added.
“This will further enable us to focus on delivering our long-term business plan, including investment in new products and technologies, whilst continuing to explore potential technical partnerships with industry partners.”
The recapitalisation process began in December last year after McLaren shareholders unanimously approved the agreement.
According to previous reports, the agreement would involve about 20 per cent of the equity in McLaren being converted into new contracts, which will have the economic rights to benefit from a future ‘liquidity event’ such as an initial public offering (IPO) of McLaren, without being classed as shares.
Last year, Mumtalakat announced that it bought shares and warrants worth £400 million (BD190m) in McLaren from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Ares Management.
Mumtalakat, which had a 60pc stake in McLaren at the time, expected the British company to go public in two to three years, its chief executive told Reuters in June 2022.
Source: https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/1307176
