McLaren is considering to sell a small stake of its Formula 1 team as it’s seeking for ways to raise capital to deal with the hit from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The British carmaker has been looking at various alternatives for additional funding over the recent months, including mortgaging its historic car collection and its Woking-based Technology Center.
Selling a minority stake of McLaren Racing, which includes both the IndyCar and F1 teams, will also help McLaren’s chances in challenging the top three teams in the 2021 Formula 1 championship, which is when the $145 million budget cap will be established.
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Autosport is quoting an unnamed source that confirms McLaren’s plan to sell a stake in McLaren Racing of up to 30 percent. The racing arm of McLaren has currently the same shareholders with the parent Group and selling a stake will require some sort of restructuring.
The McLaren Group’s ownership structure includes Bahrain’s Mumtalakat Holding Company with a 56 percent stake, Mansour Ojjeh with a 14 percent stake, Michael Latifi with a 10 percent stake and the remaining 20 percent split between minority shareholders.
A few weeks ago, the company announced its plan to cut around 1,200 jobs across all three business sectors, with the racing team’s staff to lose around 70 employees.
McLaren Group continues its search for additional funding, saying that “is currently looking at a number of potential financing alternatives, secured and unsecured, of up to £275 million ($341 million) equivalent to strengthen its liquidity position.”