McLaren is considering selling upto a 30 percent stake to raise funds for its Racing division, according to Sky News.
The Woking-based outfit has been forced into taking drastic financial measures in the wake of the coronavirus, including cutting 1,200 staff, raising £300m in capital from stakeholders and is seeking another £275m in liquidity against their classic car collection and factory.
That, however, is across the entire McLaren Group, whereas this new stake sale, which is still in “a conceptual stage”, would be limited to just the Racing arm which covers the Formula 1 and IndyCar operations.
Sky News explains that discussions have been taking place with advisors and lenders on the potential sale and could instead look at raising capital from existing bondholders.
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It is hoped the move could raise McLaren tens of millions of pounds in new funding, and is considered an effort by CEO Zak Brown to sure up the F1 team’s finances and enable them to meet the new $145m budget cap coming for 2021.
This would then place them on the level playing field with Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull when it came to developing the all-new cars for 2022.
That also means the situation is very different from another historic independent team at Williams, who have put their entire company up for sale as they look to ensure its future post-Covid-19.
Interestingly, one connection between the two is Canadian billionaire Michael Latifi, who owns a 10 percent stake in the McLaren Group and is being linked to an investment in Williams, where his son Nicholas will race in 2020.