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McLaren Racing Closes Ownership Restructure, Exits $300M Pandemic-Era Distress
MSP Sports Capital takes majority control, ending three-year liquidity crisis that forced asset sales and facility mortgages.
Sports Edge deskSports Edge · Huang GoodmanSource: The Race ↗
In plain words
McLaren Racing exits distress at **$750M** valuation as MSP takes **60%**, aligning capital for sponsor and technical hires ahead of 2026 engine rules.
$750 million
triple its distressed valuation when MSP first entered at
$185 million
in late 2020
33%
to roughly
60%
with Bahrain's Mumtalakat sovereign fund reducing from
McLaren Racing completed its ownership restructuring this month, finalizing MSP Sports Capital's majority stake and closing the chapter on a financial crisis that nearly collapsed the operation in 2020. The deal values the F1 team at approximately $750 million, triple its distressed valuation when MSP first entered at $185 million in late 2020.
The transaction sees MSP increase its stake from 33% to roughly 60%, with Bahrain's Mumtalakat sovereign fund reducing from 56% to approximately 30%, and the McLaren Group retaining a 10% interest. McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown retains operational control under a management agreement extending through 2030. The structure separates McLaren Racing's ownership fully from McLaren Automotive's ongoing struggles—the car division laid off 200 staff in November and faces separate restructuring.
The ownership shift matters because it removes the capital allocation tension that plagued McLaren since 2017, when Ron Dennis was forced out and the Bahraini fund assumed control. Between 2018 and 2020, McLaren Racing operated under an informal budget cap—executives privately called it "the invisible ceiling"—as Mumtalakat prioritized the automotive side's cash burn. The racing team's 2020 revenue was $195 million against an operating budget of $240 million, forcing Brown to mortgage the team's historic car collection for $95 million and sell its Woking headquarters in a leaseback worth $228 million. MSP's initial equity injection stabilized operations but left governance unclear; Brown answered to three board factions with competing agendas.
The new structure aligns incentives. MSP Sports Capital, the vehicle backed by Jahm Najafi and UBS O'Connor, operates 16 sports properties including stakes in six other racing entities. Their thesis: F1 teams are undervalued broadcast distribution plays trading at 4-5x revenue while comparable U.S. franchises trade at 8-12x. McLaren's 2024 revenue reached approximately $320 million, implying MSP's basis is now roughly 2.3x sales—a discount reflecting the team's fourth-place constructor finish and lack of a title sponsor above $30 million annually. MSP previously flipped minority positions in FC Augsburg and Esporte Clube Bahia at 40%+ IRRs within three years by professionalizing commercial operations.
McLaren's recovery shows in the margins. The team's 2023 operating loss was $18 million, down from $52 million in 2021. Sponsorship inventory is 91% sold for 2025, compared to 73% in 2022. The Google Cloud title sponsorship pays approximately $28 million per season through 2026, but renewal talks haven't started—sponsors typically want clarity on ownership before committing $35-40 million annually, the rate Brown is targeting. The team's commercial staff grew from 22 people in 2020 to 47 now, and hospitality utilization at flyaway races runs at 94%, the highest outside Red Bull and Ferrari.
Two items to track: McLaren begins technical director interviews in February after the role sat vacant for 11 months post-James Key's departure—candidates want to see the budget commitment before accepting. And MSP is quietly testing sponsor demand for a $50 million principal partnership launching at the Miami Grand Prix, structured as equity plus cash, a model copied from Alpine's BWT deal. The target: a U.S. financial services brand looking to activate against Liberty Media's $3.1 billion Las Vegas investment.
The deal closes the same week F1 announces record 2024 revenues of $3.4 billion. MSP paid 2.3x sales for a team that hasn't won a title since 2008. Red Bull Racing trades privately at 6x revenue. The gap is the bet.
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