McLaren F1 team taken over by Bahrain and Abu Dhabi wealth funds

F1

McLaren Racing has been valued at up to $5 billion as Bahrain's Mumtalakat and Abu Dhabi's CYVN Holdings take full control

Oscar Piastri (McLaren-Mercedes) during practice for the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps. Photo: Grand Prix Photo

Bahrain’s Mumtalakat sovereign wealth fund and Abu Dhabi’s CYVN Holdings have taken full ownership of McLaren Racing, increasing its interesting after a five-year period of minority investment.

Earlier estimates put the valuation of the brand’s motor sport arm at nearly £3 billion, marking a dramatic leap from the team’s £560 million valuation in 2020.

Other media outlets have placed the figure at around $5 billion, making it the highest ever for an F1 team and edging past Ferrari’s $4.8 billion valuation from 2023.

The acquisition involved the buyout of all remaining shares held by MSP Sports Capital and co-investors such as UBS O’Connor, Ares Management, and Caspian Funds.

In 2020, these investors injected critical capital to guide McLaren through the financial fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, acquiring up to 33% of the racing business.

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Bahrain’s King´s Tower with McLaren’s logo

Grand Prix Photo

MSP executives Jahm Najafi and Jeff Moorad, who served on McLaren’s board, will vacate their positions following the transition.

The company will hope this new ownership unifies McLaren’s strategic direction, strengthening support for its expansion across multiple racing platforms – including Formula 1, IndyCar, and a planned debut in the World Endurance Championship in 2027.

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“Our suite of minority investors came on board in 2020 and we thank them for their tremendous support over the past few years as we set McLaren Racing on a path to commercial growth and financial stability,” McLaren Group Executive Chairman Paul Walsh was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Najafi added: “Formula 1 has transformed into a global media and entertainment platform thanks in no small part to the vision of savvy team owners like McLaren Group Limited, who have demonstrated time and again, year after year, the ability to drive innovation, performance, and results in a sport we believe has no equal in terms of its long-term economic potential.

“We are honoured to have been able to work with Mumtalakat and the McLaren team and we look forward to staying involved in this incredible sport as active supporters.”

Having already secured last year’s constructors’ title, McLaren is widely expected to clinch both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships this season.

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