- Success enjoyed in North Wales
- U.S. owners of Milan also involved
- Ambitous project in motor racing
WHAT HAPPENED? Hollywood stars Reynolds and McElhenney, who have enjoyed considerable success with their football venture in North Wales, are joining forces with Otro Capital and RedBird Capital Partners to acquire a 24 per cent stake in Alpine – Renault, the Formula One team’s parent company, has announced. The €200m (£171m/$218m) deal means that British-based Alphine Racing is now valued at around $900m (£708m).
WHAT THEY SAID: Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi has said: “This association is an important step to enhance our performance at all levels. Otro Capital, RedBird Capital Partners and Maximum Effort Investments, as international players with strong track record in the sports industry, will bring their recognised expertise to boost our media and marketing strategy, essential to support our sporting performance over the long term. The incremental revenue generated will in turn be reinvested in the team, in order to further accelerate our Mountain Climber plan, aimed at catching up with top teams in terms of state-of-the-art facilities and equipment.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: The Mountain Climber plan, which was formed in 2022, sees Alpine aiming to fight for the F1 world championship inside 100 races. The presence of Reynolds – who leads Maximum Efforts Investments, with McElhenney and Michael B. Jordan acting as co-investors - should aid that cause, along with U.S. investment firm RedBird - a company run by former Goldman Sachs banker Gerry Cardinale that is an investor in Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group and one that boasts a controlling stake in French side Toulouse and acquired Serie A giants AC Milan in a €1.2 billion (£1bn/$1.3bn) deal back in August 2022.
IN TWO PHOTOS:
Getty ImagesNext Match
GettyWHAT NEXT? Alpine Racing won the F1 constructors’ world championship in 2005 and 2006, and while competing as Renault’s works team Benetton in 1995. They finished fourth in the championship last year and sit fifth in the current standings after eight races.