Daimler AG is no longer a shareholder in the McLaren Group, ending its 12-year majority shareholding in the engineering company which includes its Formula 1 team.
McLaren confirmed in late 2009 that they would buy back the 40% stake held by the German manufacturer, following its takeover of Brawn GP of which Daimler, along with Aabar, bought a 75% stake, rebranding the team under the Mercedes banner, of which Daimler also owns.
Daimler’s 40% stake in the McLaren Group up until 2009, was reduced to just 11% in 2010. It’s now understood that the remainder has been returned to McLaren’s three shareholders; Ron Dennis (25%), TAG Group (25%) and the Bahraini Mumtalakat Holding Company (50%) which is an investment arm of the Bahraini Royal family.
The cost of buying Daimler’s shares back is expected to have cost upwards of £500 million, with half of that coming from BMHC which has boosted its original shareholding by 20%.
This now means that McLaren and Mercedes are completely independent of one another, meaning McLaren, as of 2013, will have to pay for its engine supply much like Force India.
This is also the source of much speculation that McLaren are looking for an alternate engine supplier, or to build their own once their supply deal ends in 2015, two years into the new 1.6ltr V6 engine formula which makes its debut in 2014.
