McLaren hasn’t had an easy time since the pandemic, but it looks like the ground underneath its fat Pirellis just got a little more solid. The Brit supercar brand announced today that it’s largest existing shareholder has now taken complete control of the entire firm.
Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain known as Mumtalakat, has expanded its stake in the company from 60 percent to 100 percent, potentially giving McLaren the lifeline it needs to develop its next generation of cars, including an SUV and an electric supercar due in 2028.
“We are delighted at Mumtalakat’s continued commitment to McLaren through this deal,” said Paul Walsh, McLaren Group Executive Chairman. “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.”
Related: McLaren P1 Heir To Debut This Year With 1,000+ HP Hybrid V8, Gullwing Doors
That last bit is significant, because even with Mumtalakat’s help there’s surely no way McLaren could afford to develop the platforms and powertrain systems needed to compete at the highest level against rivals, who mostly have the backing of huge multinational carmakers and access to their tech.
Autocar explains that Mumtalakat converted all of its convertible preference shares into ordinary shares as part of the restructuring, which puts the Bahraini fund in a strong position when working out its next move – a move that could be attracting a buyer or floating McLaren. Arch rival Ferrari was floated on the stock market in 2015 with massive success, but Aston Martin didn’t have the same good fortune when it went public three years later.
McLaren has been searching for funding for some time, and earlier this year Bloomberg reported that Mumtalakat had approached potential investors, including Chinese automakers in the hope of securing a capital injection and technical know-how. The company founded by Kiwi racer Bruce McLaren in 1963 was forced to sell some of its collection of heritage cars to Mumtalakat in 2022 the year after it sold its Woking-based HQ, the McLaren Technology Center, to American real estate giant Global Lease Network for £170 million ($214 m). A lease deal allowed it to stay on the site.
But the recent McLaren news hasn’t all been gloomy. Earlier this month we heard that the firm was gearing to to reveal its successor to the P1 before the end of 2024. Rumored to feature a twin-turbo V8 making well in excess of 1,000 hp (1,014 PS), it will allegedly swap the old car’s dihedral doors for gullwing versions.
