Freshfields has advised Bahrain sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat as it takes full control of McLaren Racing alongside Abu Dhabi investment vehicle CYVN Holdings, in a deal Reuters reported valued the reigning Formula One world champions at around £3.5bn.
The Freshfields team was led by London corporate partner Rhys Evans and New York-based Damien Zoubek, who was a landmark hire from Cravath for the firm in 2021 as its US expansion push got underway. Meanwhile, antitrust advice was led by partner Tom McGrath and tax advice by partner Paul Davison, both of whom are based in London.
Evans also co-led the Freshfields team that advised Mumtalakat, a longtime investor in McLaren, when it took full control of the group last year. Ashurst, McLaren’s official legal services partner, advised the group on the matter, with the team headed by restructuring partner Drew Sainsbury, corporate partner Molly Woods and McLaren relationship partner Rob Aird.
McLaren again called in Freshfields earlier this year when it sold its automotive business and a non-controlling stake in McLaren Racing to CYVN, which was guided on the matter by an A&O Shearman team led by Dubai-based M&A partner David Foster.
The latest deal sees Mumtalakat and CYVN acquire the significant minority stake in McLaren Racing that was bought by a consortium of US investors led by MSP Sports Capital in 2020, when McLaren was in need of funds during the Covid-19 pandemic. MSP called in Morgan Lewis to advise it on the deal, which at the time valued McLaren Racing at £560m post-investment, and has again turned to the firm for advice in the latest deal, with the team led by partners Mark Geday, Richard Aldridge, Daniel Losk, Paul Denham and Leo Theodosiou.
Since then McLaren Racing has emerged as a dominant force in F1, winning the constructors’ title last year for the first time since 1998. It also has a front-running team in the US-based IndyCar World Series and in 2027 will enter the World Endurance Championship.
“Our suite of minority investors came on board in 2020 and we thank them for their tremendous support over the past few years as we set McLaren Racing on a path to commercial growth and financial stability,” McLaren Group executive chairman Paul Walsh said in a statement.
He added: “We now have two fantastic shareholders in Mumtalakat, a long-standing and deeply valued partner, and CYVN, whose additional investment in Automotive and McLaren Racing, together with their focus on advanced mobility, strengthens our ability to future-proof the business and capture new growth opportunities.”
Mumtalakat will continue as majority shareholder of McLaren, with CYVN Holdings owning a non-controlling stake.
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