According to Sky News, Bahrain’s state investment fund Mumtalakat is set to purchase a stake in the McLaren Group which is currently owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), with a deal expected to be completed on Thursday.
It’s believed that PIF are selling their stake in the manufacturer to Mumtalakat, which would make them McLaren’s biggest shareholder.
The stake in question includes McLaren Racing and the British manufacturer’s motorsport division, which is owned by PIF and Ares Management until the deal is completed.
Since 2021, it’s understood that PIF and Ares have invested £400 million into McLaren; however, no further investment will be made by either party.
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Sky are under the impression that Mumtalakat will have to invest into McLaren over the coming months, with the manufacturer wanting to strengthen their balance sheets.
Mumtalakat have already invested a substantial amount into McLaren over the past year, with Bahrain having acquired a large amount of the company’s heritage car collection following a £100 million commitment to the brand.
Reportedly, McLaren Racing aren’t in need of investment due to the fact that they work alone.
A stake in McLaren Racing was sold last year by the manufacturer’s head of its road cars division, Michael Leiters.
The stake was sold to a separate group of investors, keeping their motorsport operations financially stable.
PIF’s departure comes at a time when the Saudi sovereign wealth fund is starting to takeover sports, most recently, football.
Saudi Arabia have this summer been purchasing several of the greatest footballers in the world, something which has resulted in a considerable amount of panic amongst clubs in Europe.
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Whilst the Saudi sovereign wealth fund had previously targeted players approaching the end of their career, like Cristiano Ronaldo, they’re now signing players at the peak of their career.
Recent high-profile names to have become on the verge of a switch to Saudi Arabia include Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva, as well as Wolverhampton Wanderers Ruben Neves.
As well as that, PIF are currently overseeing a merger between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, which recently broke headlines across the globe.