- PIF and Ares Management invested £400m in McLaren two years ago.
- Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund involved in F1 takeover offer
According to Sky News, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will sell McLaren Group’s preferred shares to Bahrain’s state-owned investment fund Mumtalakat.
The report said this was a private transaction of preference shares and warrants and would not result in any new investment in the company, which owns the McLaren F1 team. This comes two years after PIF and Ares Management invested £400 million (US$510 million) in McLaren.
Sky News reported that the deal is part of McLaren’s board’s efforts to clean up the company’s capital structure. Following the retirement of the preferred stock, the company plans to raise further capital in the coming months.
Due to the autonomous nature of F1 teams, this is unlikely to have a ripple effect on the company’s racing division.
The move to sell PIF comes amid increased investment in the sport, particularly through the merger of Saudi-backed LIV Golf with the PGA and DP World Tour, and the recent influx of soccer stars into the Saudi Professional League. It was conducted.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund was previously involved in a takeover bid for F1 that valued the series at US$20 billion. However, the country’s sports minister said these rumors were “pure speculation”.
Interestingly, PIF has remained on the fringes of F1, previously only investing in the automotive divisions of McLaren and Aston Martin. However, Saudi funding is rumored to be behind a new F1 team led by British American Racing (BAR) founder Craig Pollock, aiming to enter the race in 2026.