- McLaren’s owners in Bahrain have sold the automaker to an investment firm in Abu Dhabi
- The new owners also hold a stake in Chinese EV manufacturer Nio
- In addition to much-needed cash, the sale gives McLaren access to new technologies
It looks like McLaren supercars will continue to come out of the automaker’s manufacturing facility in Britain, but if anyone there needs to talk to the company’s owner, it will continue to be a long-distance call. Its previous owners in Bahrain have sold McLaren to an investment firm based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
News of the pending sale initially broke in October, but now all has been wrapped up and the deal completed just prior to the end of 2024. The new owner is CYVN Holdings, which is owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, the U.A.E.’s capital city.
McLaren also recently announced that Henrik Wilhelmsmeyer, previously employed by BMW and Rolls-Royce, will become the company’s chief commercial officer in early January 2025, leading McLaren’s global sales and marketing.
Just last March, McLaren was entirely taken over by Mumtalakat Holding Co., the state-owned sovereign wealth fund in Bahrain, which had previously held a majority share in the marque, along with stakes in the McLaren racing teams. It was expected the ownership would help with McLaren’s rocky finances.
To keep afloat, the automaker had previously sold its headquarters and then remained in it under lease; it shed some 1,200 employees; production was temporarily halted; and, in 2022, it went into its heritage collection and sold US$123 million worth of cars to Mumtalakat to help fund the roll-out and production of its new Artura hybrid supercar.
But now it has a new owner, and for an undisclosed purchase price. It seems CYVN Holdings should have what it takes, at least financially: it holds a stake worth around US$2.2 billion in Nio, a China-based electric vehicle manufacturer; as well as a controlling interest in Gordon Murray Technologies, an automotive design and engineering company named for its founder, who designed several vehicles including the McLaren F1.
The deal also includes a non-controlling stake in the McLaren Group, which includes the racing division.
In a statement issued by Mumtalakat when the deal was first announced, moving McLaren to CYVN “would bring access to additional capital, advanced engineering expertise, and pioneering technology, particularly in the field of electric vehicles.”
McLaren has said it’s developing a lightweight electric supercar, and this might be the push it needs to get it over the finish line. In any case, we’ll have to wait and see how hands-on or -off CYVN is with the British-based automaker — or, perhaps given McLaren’s recent history, if this time it’ll finally be kept by its owner for a while.
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