- Bahrain has officially taken over full ownership of McLaren.
- The Bahraini fund Mumtalakat was already McLaren’s largest shareholder but now takes full ownership of the greater McLaren Group.
- In addition to the sports-car manufacturer, the McLaren Group owns a majority stake in McLaren Racing, which owns teams in the Formula 1, IndyCar, Formula E, and Extreme E racing series.
After years of kicking desperately below the surface to keep afloat, McLaren has been sold to Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund. Mumtalakat, as the Bahraini fund is known, was already McLaren’s largest single shareholder before today, but now, the fund has taken full ownership of the McLaren Group.
The change in ownership “marks a major milestone,” according to the company, and should help inject more stability into the company after multiple years of rocky production and staff layoffs. The company has been facing financial troubles since 2020. In the years since, the automaker has been forced to lay off 1200 employees, temporarily pause production, and sell both its headquarters and heritage collection of vehicles to pay for the production of the Artura.
“Marks a Major Milestone”
“We are delighted at Mumtalakat’s continued commitment to McLaren through this deal,” said McLaren Group executive chairman Paul Walsh.
“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,” Walsh continued.
2023 McLaren Artura.
His sentiments were echoed by Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, CEO of Mumtalakat: “This reorganization and new simplified structure positions McLaren for success and opens up strategic avenues, which include exploring new partnerships to enhance the company’s growth over the coming years.”
In addition to the sports-car arm of the company that currently builds the 750S, GTS, and Artura sports cars, the McLaren Group also owns a majority stake in McLaren Racing, where the company employs factory teams in sports including Formula 1, IndyCar, Formula E, and Extreme E.
Despite being considerably younger than most legacy automakers, McLaren has produced its fair share of historically great cars. From the three-seater F1 to the blisteringly quick P1 and Senna models, McLaren has cemented itself as one of the greats. Because of that, we’re glad to see the company story continue.
Jack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1.
After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf.