♔ ‘Once they sold cars to survive, now they sell dreams to sovereign funds.’
McLaren Racing — once a cash-strapped relic flogging assets to survive — is now worth more than Claridge’s, a Mayfair townhouse and a superyacht combined.
Bahrain’s Mumtalakat and Abu Dhabi’s CYVN are poised to take complete control, valuing the F1 jewel at over £3bn.
From Senna to Piastri, Ron Dennis to Zak Brown — the orange phoenix has risen.
The details?
Quite something.
◼︎ Founded in 1963 by Bruce McLaren, the team quickly became motor racing aristocracy.
◼︎ 200 Grand Prix wins, Le Mans at its first attempt, and a driver roll-call that reads like a shrine — Senna, Prost, Hakkinen, Hamilton.
◼︎ By 2020, however, McLaren was financially wheezing.
◼︎ COVID gutted sales, forcing asset disposals and emergency injections. MSP Sports Capital led a £560m valuation lifeline, buying 15% of the Papaya-Orange brand when it looked decidedly pale.
◼︎ Bahrain’s Mumtalakat sovereign fund already held the crown shareholding, but Abu Dhabi’s CYVN later joined the table, acquiring slices as McLaren stabilised.
◼︎ Enter Zak Brown: equal parts marketeer, deal-maker and racing obsessive.
◼︎ He presided over ruthless restructuring and a renaissance culminating in Oscar Piastri’s Dutch GP win and Lando Norris’s relentless podium run —McLaren’s strongest form in decades.
◼︎ The buyout, expected imminently, will see MSP, UBSO’Connorr, Ares and sundry small-timers cashed out at champagne-spraying multiples.
◼︎ McLaren now has simplified ownership, £3bn-plus valuation, and competitive muscle. A new era beckons — one Bruce himself would surely toast.
♔ ‘Enzo Ferrari had Popes; McLaren has sovereign funds.’
