According to information from the German and British press, Audi and BMW are in the process of negotiating a takeover of McLaren, which denied on Monday. Present in F1 and specialist in supercars, the sports brand has several strengths.
The sports car maker McLaren will he switch to the German flag? Audi, a brand which belongs t
o the Volkswagen group, and BMW would be interested in the takeover of the British sports car
manufacturer McLaren Automotive, reported this Sunday, November 14. German specialist
weekly Automobilwoche, without specifying its sources but providing details and timetables.
The first talks between BMW and the Bahraini sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat, which owns
42% of McLaren's capital, should take place in early December, the article said. Audi would also
be interested in McLaren's activities in Formula 1. Neither the brand with the rings nor BMW
are in fact present in this competition, which is nevertheless a major vector of communication,
particularly in high-potential markets such as China.
- Denial of the two potential buyers ... and McLaren
If the twittosphere fan of motorsport got carried away on Monday, the breath seems to have
fallen. A BMW spokesperson has indeed indicated that the Automobilwoche article was "false",
indicates Automotive News Europe. For its part, the British magazine Autocar affirmed that Audi
had submitted an offer to the owner of McLaren and that an agreement would have been found, before being denied by the German brand.
Monday noon, McLaren also denied any buyout by Audi. "McLaren's technology strategy has
always involved ongoing discussions and collaboration with relevant partners and suppliers,
including other automakers, however, there has been no change in the ownership structure of the McLaren Group," McLaren said in a press release.
McLaren produces supercars while maintaining a Formula 1 team. The latter could be
particularly interesting for investors to communicate via this sport in growing markets, for example in China or South America.
- British manufacturers targeted for foreign takeovers
Mclaren is not the only British manufacturer present in F1 to have attracted the envy of late. In 2017,
the Chinese group Geely, which had just acquired the British sports car brand Lotus, was also
approached as a potential buyer of another national flagship across the Channel: Aston Martin. A brand bought in 2018 by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll.
In difficulties with declining sales and the interruption of sporting events in the context of the covid
pandemic, the British brand announced in the summer of 2020 that it would stop producing gasoline models by 2030, for switch to electric.
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