McLaren gets $760m from investors including Saudi wealth fund PIF

McLaren Group obtained $760m in funding from investors including Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund as the supercar maker and racing team owner tries to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Funds managed by Ares Management and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund have committed to invest 400m pounds ($550m) in the form of preference shares and equity warrants.

Existing shareholders, including sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and a limited number of new private investors, are set to invest 150m pounds in the form of convertible preference shares.

McLaren, controlled by Bahrain’s Mumtalakat, has been hit by the pandemic that has delayed the Formula 1 racing series and forced it to halt automotive production.

The closely held British supercar maker in April sold and leased back its headquarters in Woking, near London, and agreed to sell as much as a third of its racing unit to a consortium of US-based investors.

Goldman Sachs Group and HSBC Holdings advised McLaren on the transaction.