McLaren gets £260m boost for new sports cars
FORMER Formula 1 racing boss and executive chairman of the McLaren Group Ron Dennis has successfully raised £260m to help fund a new sports car manufacturing business.
McLaren Automotive, a subsidiary to the racing group, raised the new finance through a collection of new investors with a small portion of the funding raised through debt.
Dennis, who also leads McLaren Automotive, is offering a 48 per cent stake of the company to new shareholders, while 52 per cent of the manufacturer is already owned by three McLaren stakeholders, including the Bahrain sovereign wealth fund, Tag Group and Dennis, who personally retains a 15 per cent stake in the McLaren Group entirely.
The company’s first sports car, the MP4-12C, is set to go on sale next year, with hopes that it will rival high-end peers Ferrari and Aston Martin.
According to Dennis, McLaren Automotive already has an order book for more than a year’s worth of production of the new sports cars.
The plans for the new car were unveiled last year and will be built in a factory in Woking. It is expected that the production of the cars will create over 300 jobs. McLaren was not available for comment.