McLaren: Shareholders stump up £80m as cash crisis continues
McLaren has been forced to ask its shareholders for an additional £80m in funding, as it struggles to stay afloat amid a cash crisis.
The marque warned last month it would need more money from its Bahrain owners after losses at the business more than doubled last year, amid delivery delays and mounting costs.
Investors have already given the company £370m between March and September, according to company accounts. In 2021, losses mounted from £135m to £349m.
Cash-strapped McLaren’s largest shareholder is Bahrain’s Mumtalakat Holding Company, the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, which owns two-thirds of the business.
Auditors warned in September last year that the luxury carmaker was at risk of collapse because of the global shortage in semiconductors, which pummelled the entire industry during the pandemic era.
The British engineering powerhouse is also grappling with delivery delays, most recently of its next-generation Artura supercar, which has suffered quality control issues during production in Woking. Recent company accounts show last year’s losses equated to a deficit of almost £140,000 per car produced.
In 2021, the company sold its famous Woking headquarters to the investment firm GNL in a £170m deal, although it has an agreement to stay on as tenant the next two decades.
A spokesperson for McLaren said the funding was “part of an ongoing recapitalisation process involving existing shareholders.”