Joint McLaren Ownership by Middle East Firms?

McLaren Automotive may soon be sold to CYVN Holdings, an Abu Dhabi-based company that promises a fresh cash injection for the British sports car maker.

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, earlier took full ownership of the McLaren Group. It owns both the car maker and McLaren Racing. The firm announced today it has signed a non-binding agreement with the ‘specialist investment vehicle’.

The pair said that the agreement was to “explore a potential partnership”. The deal would also include a non-controlling stake. 

“This transformative investment by CYVN Holdings would bring access to additional capital, advanced engineering expertise and pioneering technology, particularly in the field of electric vehicles.” The brand’s first fully-fledged EV, an SUV, is tipped to arrive in 2028.

Mumtalakat said the deal would also help to “deliver sustainable long-term financial returns” for the car maker.

CYVN also has investments in Gordon Murray Technologies, British start-up Forseven and Chinese EV specialist Nio.

These firms may “bring potential synergies to complement and enhance McLaren’s product strategy”.

McLaren has struggled to recover since the Covid pandemic hit. That resulted in the firm undertaking an “urgent” round of refinancing in mid-2020 as creditors circled. The British car maker also shed 1200 jobs during a round of rigorous cost cutting.

Since then, it has been reliant on support from various shareholders, including Mumtalakat which held a 60 per cent share in the McLaren Group until its full takeover in April.

The latest cash injection came in November last year when £450m was raised through various unnamed shareholders.