According to foreign media reports, British supercar manufacturer McLaren (McLaren) has been wholly owned by Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Holding Company (Mumtalakat Holding Company), and its shareholding ratio has increased from 60% to 100%. However, as of press time, no official details of the injection have been announced.
It is understood that McLaren is a British supercar manufacturer, its business is divided into supercar manufacturing and racing business, originally founded by champion driver Bruce McLaren (Bruce McLaren) in 1960, named McLaren Automotive Limited, and then independent in 2010, McLaren Automotive Company's English name was also changed from McLaren Cars to McLaren Automotive, independently becoming McLaren Motors.
As for Bahrain Sovereign Wealth Fund Holding Company, it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bahraini government and mainly invests in non-oil projects including finance, industry, real estate, tourism and other sectors. Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund, officially known as Muttalakat Holdings, has held a stake in McLaren since 2007 and injected millions of dollars in cash into the company during the pandemic to keep it afloat.
In December 2023, McLaren Group issued a statement saying that shareholders unanimously approved a comprehensive recapitalization of the group, which will introduce a simplified shareholding structure and governance process, "as an important step in the group's continued commitment to building world-leading supercars, providing a top-tier customer experience, and expanding into new markets and customer segments". During the period, it was reported that Mamtarakat Holdings, Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund, McLaren's majority shareholder, was close to reaching an agreement for a full takeover of McLaren.
In February, market sources said that McLaren's controlling shareholder, Mumtalakat Holding Co, was seeking to bring in additional investors who could provide capital and technical expertise, including potential investors including Chinese automakers, to fund further growth for McLaren, although representatives of both McLaren and Mumtalakat declined to comment at the time.
The increase in shareholding may mean that Mumtalakat Holding Company will provide additional financial support to McLaren. In fact, as early as 2020, when the coronavirus broke out, McLaren struggled due to a lack of funds. McLaren reportedly applied for a £150 million loan from the UK government, but was not approved. In May 2020, McLaren announced that it would cut 1,200 of its 4,000 employees to alleviate the funding crisis, including Formula 1 teams, on-highway production cars and applied technology. At the same time, McLaren had planned to sell its headquarters building worth £200 million, but it was only later able to temporarily weather the situation with a £150 million loan from a Bahraini bank. But the money was a drop in the bucket for McLaren, who ran into financial difficulties again the following year and eventually sold it to the US company GlobalNetLease for £170 million, which was then leaseback.
In addition, McLaren's Artura supercar was also forced to stop production due to chip shortages, and then due to technical upgrades, but lack of funds to complete the upgrade, resulting in an indefinite delay in delivery, and finally had no choice but to sell some collectible classic cars to Mumtalakat in exchange for £100 million in liquidity to provide research and development funds for the delayed release of the Artura supercar.
McLaren Group's previously released financial figures showed that McLaren Group lost £349 million in 2022 due to supply chain disruptions and declining market demand caused by the pandemic, and according to data, as of the end of September 2023, McLaren's main automotive business had a total of about £55 million (about $69 million) in cash and unspent liquid credit facilities, with net debt of about £517 million.
To some extent, although McLaren is a supercar brand, unlike other supercar manufacturers, McLaren does not have a financial owner behind it, and continuous losses are also the key to its financial difficulties, which has led McLaren to seek financial assistance from investors many times. In addition, McLaren loves supercars and refuses to launch SUV models and pure electric models, but these models are the main theme of the consumer market, on the contrary, sports cars themselves are more expensive, which is also destined to be unsuitable for mass consumers, which may also be the reason why ultra-luxury sports car manufacturers including Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Maserati, Ferrari and other ultra-luxury sports car manufacturers have put down their bodies to launch SUV models or new energy models.
For McLaren, who has little money in his pocket, the increase in the stake of Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund holding company may mean that it may be able to provide financial support to McLaren. It is not known whether Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund holdings will be a lifesaver for McLaren in the future.
According to reports, McLaren may launch a new supercar this year, which may become the successor to the McLaren P1, which is expected to be equipped with gullwing doors and an output of more than 1,000 horsepower.