- Reynolds and McElhenney get 2-3% stake in F1 team without investment
- Wrexham co-owners expected to generate value through global profiles, as well as potential documentary series
The recent €200 million (US$217.8 million) investment into the Alpine Formula One team will leverage the global profiles of Wrexham co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, according to The Mail on Sunday.
Originally, the announcement implied that Reynolds’ Maximum Effort Investments company had invested alongside RedBird Capital Partners and Otro Capital to purchase a 24 per cent stake in the Enstone-based outfit.
However, The Mail on Sunday reports the Hollywood actors were granted a stake in the team in exchange for their global profiles, rather than investing any of their own money.
The report suggests that Maximum Effort Investments, which includes fellow actor Michael B Jordan as an investor, will own around one-tenth of the 24 per cent stake, or between two and three per cent of Alpine.
The aim is for Reynolds and McElhenney to encourage future revenue in much the same way as they have done at Wrexham, with a documentary series mooted.
BlackBook says…
The true value of this deal will only be realised once Reynolds and McElhenney’s level of influence is established.
Expect to see the actors appear on the grid at a race or two, with Austin and Las Vegas leading candidates this season.
From there, it will be interesting to see how this develops from a publicity standpoint – the team’s profile will surely be raised in the US, but how much of a tangible impact will this have on Alpine’s commercial aspirations?
The potential documentary series will likely take a similar approach to the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ series, but work needs to be done on finding a compelling narrative for a team often trailing on the marketing frontier.