Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund secures full ownership of McLaren

The Mumtalakat Holding Company has been long-term investors in Mclaren since 2008.

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund secures full ownership of McLaren

McLaren (Via: Imago)

Bahrain, in recent times, has been at the forefront of quite a few sports-related activities with F1 visiting the country pretty much every year. Now, it has come to light that McLaren’s long-term investor, Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, Bahrain Sovereign Wealth Fund, has taken full ownership of the group.

With their takeover, the majority control over McLaren’s F1 team will now also reside with the long-term investor. The takeover was made possible following the conversion of all the preference shares into ordinary shares.

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McLaren’s executive chairman, Paul Walsh, is extremely delighted with the recent takeover.

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We are delighted at Mumtalakat’s continued commitment to McLaren through this deal, which strengthens our ownership and governance structure. 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 partner.
Paul Walsh said in an interview with Motorsport

The Mumtalakat Holding Company has been supporting the McLaren group since 2007. During that time, it bought a 30% stake in the team from then-Chairman, Ron Dennis and the late Mansour Ojjeh.

McLaren’s CEO Zak Brown signs a new deal until 2030

While McLaren will see a major say in matters from the Mumtalakat Holding Company going forward, its CEO, Zak Brown, has also signed a new deal with the Woking-based outfit. Brown will keep operating in his current role until the end of 2030.

Zak Brown
Zak Brown (via IMAGO).

This is a major boost for the Papaya’s F1 project as Brown has a wealth of experience when it comes to the sport.

I am thrilled to continue leading McLaren Racing and to be a part of such a historic race team. It is a privilege to work alongside the talented men and women across McLaren Racing's different race series. Together, we will continue to push the boundaries of motorsport and strive for the highest performance on and off the track.
Zak Brown said in an interview with ESPN

The American has been with the team since 2016 and is fully determined to bring back its glory days. McLaren is a historic team in F1 as it has so far amassed a highly impressive 12 driver’s championships. However, since 2008, it has not been able to produce a championship-worthy car. Former seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, was its world champion.

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