Bahraini fund takes control of British carmaker McLaren

Bahrain’s state-backed sovereign wealth fund has taken full ownership of McLaren Group following the completion of the latter’s capital reorganisation plan.

Mumtalakat Holding has become the sole shareholder in McLaren following the conversion of all preference shares into ordinary shares, the British carmaker said in a statement.

“Mumtalakat’s continued commitment to McLaren through this deal strengthens our ownership and governance structure,” said Paul Walsh, group executive chairman, McLaren. 

“This will further enable us to focus on delivering our long-term business plan, including investment in new products and technologies, while continuing to explore potential technical partnerships with industry partners.”

Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, CEO of Mumtalakat, said that the announcement “crystallises the next phase of the company’s trajectory of growing its leadership position in the luxury supercar and motorsports industries”.

Earlier this month, The Sunday Times reported that Mumtalakat, which earlier held a 50 percent stake in McLaren, had hired JP Morgan to find a potential buyer for its stake in the carmaker.

Since 2007, the Bahraini fund has maintained a substantial stake in McLaren. Following the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Mumtalakat invested £300 million ($384.60 million) emergency cash infusion to support the carmaker.

It subsequently raised an additional £1 billion through various initiatives, such as the sale and leaseback of its Woking headquarters, a partial sale of the company’s heritage car collection and fundraising involving Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

After two years, Mumtalakat acquired the remaining stake from the Saudis, cementing the fund’s control over the company.

McLaren sells its range of motorcars through a network of more than 100 retailers in over 40 markets worldwide.