Ferrari may not be the only exotic automaker on the stock market for much longer. Following reports that Aston Martin is considering launching an IPO, the latest word has it that McLaren is now looking at the same.
“The more successful we become, the more attractive we become to people who want to invest,” McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt reportedly told The Times. “I still think a public float of this business in three to five years is a better route.”
What isn’t immediately clear is whether McLaren as a group would float shares on the stock exchange, or just the automotive unit. The McLaren Technology Group also includes the racing division as well as McLaren Applied Technologies, which could add considerable value to shareholders due to its marketable advancements. Apple didn’t look into buying the company for nothing, after all.
Motor1 points out that the company’s recently ousted chairman Ron Dennis had expressed interest in the idea of an IPO back in 2011, saying it would take another five years – which brings us up to last year. Dennis still owns 25 percent of the company, as does Saudi-French investor Mansour Ojjeh, with the royal government of Bahrain holding the other half. The decision would have to be made from whose shares the public offering would be taken, and on which exchange they’d be listed. But the smart bet would see each shareholder’s stake proportionately decreased and floated on the London Stock Exchange.
Photo Gallery
