McLaren has been hit particularly hard by the slowdown effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and it has resorted to offering for sale its famous McLaren Technology Center located in Woking, UK, as it looks to recover.
The site includes McLaren’s headquarters, car plant and wind tunnel, but the automaker and race team isn’t about to abandon it just yet. Instead, it plans to sell the site and lease it back, a common strategy for freeing up cash.
Zak Brown, the CEO of the McLaren Formula 1 team, made the announcement on Saturday during a media call, according to Reuters.
“Why have all this money tied up in real estate? We’re not a real estate company, we’re a racing team and an automotive company,” Brown said. “We’ve got a lot of cash tied up in that building and that’s not a very productive use of funds when you’re looking to invest in your business.”
McLaren is thought to be seeking offers of more than 200 million British pounds (nearly $258,000 million) for the site, which spans in excess of 120 acres.
Prior to the onset of the pandemic, McLaren had amassed significant loans to expand its business as well as buy out former shareholder Ron Dennis. Dennis’ shares alone cost McLaren $343 million.
When the pandemic hit, the loss of revenue meant McLaren struggled to pay creditors. Shareholders injected an additional 300 million British pounds of equity in March, and 25 percent of staff were cut in May. McLaren then received a rescue loan of 150 million British pounds in June from majority owner Bahrain.
The good news is that McLaren looks to be on the rebound. The F1 team is currently third in the Constructors’ Championship and the automotive side is close to introducing a new generation of hybrid cars, starting with adding a member to the Sports Series range.
This article was originally published by Motor Authority, an editorial partner of ClassicCars.com.
