McLaren is now an Emirati car manufacturer

Abu Dhabi-based investment firm CYVN Holdings has agreed to acquire 100 percent of it McLaren automobile from its current owners, Mumtalakat Holding Reuters. Mumtalakat Holding is the sovereign wealth fund of Bahrain supported McLaren with a “capital reorganization” Earlier this year, the company fully acquired the decades-old British company, including the company's various racing activities (Formula 1, Formula E, Extreme E/H and sports cars).

This deal with CYVN also involves the Emirati holding company taking a non-controlling stake in McLaren Group, although few details were revealed about how much money changed hands or what percentage of the McLaren parent company would be traded. Mumtalakat Holding remains the majority owner of the McLaren Group with a full majority stake.

“This transformative investment by CYVN Holdings would provide access to additional capital, advanced technical expertise and breakthrough technology, particularly in the electric vehicle space,” the companies said in the joint statement.

McLaren began as a pure racing company and was founded in 1966 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren. McLaren Automotive was launched back in 1985, although the company didn't really start building cars on a large scale until 2011. The company has faced severe financial difficulties Since facing distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has raised several rounds of financing from investors and sold its headquarters.

This new deal with CYVN is important for McLaren's future, as the fund already owns Chinese electric car brand Nio and recently purchased an emerging electric sports car company called Forseven, which spun out of Gordon Murray Group's electric car division. This expertise in electric sports cars will be important in achieving McLaren Automotive CEO Michael Leiter's goal of developing an electric supercar with enough range for racing at speeds around 2030.

Given the nature of the company and its new owners, it wouldn't surprise me to see McLaren launch an SUV, perhaps even an electric one, in the near future.