- Motorsport team was valued at UK£560 million in 2020
- McLaren Racing also competes in IndyCar and will enter WEC in 2027
- MSP Sports Capital, Ares Management and UBS O’Connor among those to be bought out
McLaren Racing will achieve a valuation of more than UK£3 billion (US$4.06 billion) when Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and Abu Dhabi-based investment firm CYVN Holdings acquire the 30 per cent they don’t already own in a minority share sale.
Mumtalakat and CYVN Holdings will take full control of the motorsport outfit, which competes in multiple series, including Formula One and IndyCar. McLaren Racing also plans to enter the World Endurance Championship (WEC) from 2027, and recently exited Formula E after completing the 2024/25 season.
According to Sky News, Mumtalakat will retain a controlling stake in McLaren Racing once the sale is completed, with the transaction expected to be announced later this week. The Bahraini sovereign wealth fund is the majority shareholder in the McLaren Group. Meanwhile, CYVN Holdings acquired a minority stake in McLaren Racing earlier this year, at the same time it bought McLaren Automotive.
The pair will buy out shares held by a number of entities, including the US firm MSP Sports Capital, Ares Investment Management and the UBS O’Connor hedge fund. In 2020, MSP Sports Capital led a consortium that acquired an initial 15 per cent stake in McLaren Racing, with the transaction then valuing the team at UK£560 million (US$758.2 million).
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McLaren currently lead the Formula One constructors’ championship, while both of its drivers in Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are currently vying for the drivers’ title.
McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown claimed earlier this year that the team had likely generated the most revenue in Formula One history. Under his leadership, the outfit currently has 53 commercial partners on board.
Last week, it was announced that global payments provider Mastercard had become the McLaren Formula One team’s official naming rights partner from 2026, in a deal reportedly worth US$100 million per season.
The sizeable valuation bestowed upon McLaren comes as Formula One continues to grow in popularity. In July, it was reported that fellow Formula One outfit Aston Martin was valued at UK£2.4 billion (US$3.25 billion) in a sale of a minority stake worth UK£110 million (US$148.9 million).
BlackBook says…
McLaren is one of the most storied teams in all of motorsport. Its valuation has been driven by a surge in commercial activity under the leadership of Zak Brown as chief executive, coupled with a more recent upturn in its Formula One team’s on-track fortunes.
Mumtalakat and CYVN Holdings are evidently confident that McLaren will continue to contend at the top of Formula One regardless of any major changes tor regulations, and have faith in its ability to achieve sporting and commercial success in other series. The team has certainly been a good investment for backers selling their stakes given a near six-fold increase in the team’s value over the past five years.
McLaren has also benefited from the explosion in popularity and revenue generation capabilities of Formula One as a whole. The sport continues to grow under Liberty Media’s ownership, in part thanks to the Netflix docuseries ‘Formula 1: Drive to Survive’, while this year’s release of ‘F1: The Movie’ has further captured audiences and suggests the sport’s popularity will not slow down anytime soon.
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