McLaren gets £30m shot in the arm from Bahraini owners
McLaren has received another £30m from its Bahraini owners as it works to secure its long-term future amid ongoing cash issues.
Mumtalakat, the Bahrainian sovereign wealth fund and McLaren’s largest shareholder, invested the fresh dose of capital last week, only two months after injecting £80m.
The Woking-based luxury carmaker has repeatedly turned to Mumtalakat, which owns two-thirds of the business, to resolve ongoing cash issues associated with the pandemic chip shortage.
The most recent investment takes the total received over the last twelve months to almost £500m.
The Sunday Times reported that McLaren had hired advisers from the financial PR firm Teneo to advise on its capital structure and avoid relying on Bahrain.
In 2020, it received an additional £300m equity injection led by Mumtalakat to support its “long-term strategy”.
The Gulf investment vehicle is set to become the company’s sole shareholder through a “full recapitalisation” deal announced in December.
The cash crunch at McLaren has plagued the firm for many years. Auditors warned in September 2022 the company was at risk of collapse due to the global shortage in semiconductors.
More recently, it has struggled with delivery delays of its next-generation Artura supercar, which suffered quality control issues during production in Woking.
McLaren sold its famous Woking headquarters in 2020 to the investment firm GNL in a £170m deal, although it has an agreement to stay on as tenant for the next two decades.
A spokesperson for McLaren: “2024 is off to an excellent start with strong demand across our range of class-leading supercars. The latest funding from our shareholders is simply part of an ongoing recapitalisation process supporting our future product strategy.”