Ron Dennis could be out at McLaren within days after his takeover bid was rejected by investors.
It was reported last month that a deadline for the long-time CEO to present an offer to take full control of the British company was looming but it was unlikely he would find the required funding.
However, it is now claimed Dennis did indeed put a bid on the table worth around £1.6 billion after attracting interest from China.
That bid has since been rejected by the Bahraini wealth fund Mumtalakat, who own a majority 50% stake and Dennis’ long-time business partner Mansour Ojjeh, who owns a 25% share.
As part of the October report published by Autosport, it was claimed Dennis would step down from his role as CEO if a takeover did not occur and now it seems efforts are being made to oust the 69-year-old.
In recent days, he was at the High Court in London trying to secure an injunction that would prevent Ojjeh and the representatives for Mumtalakat placing him on gardening leave until his contract expires at the beginning of next year.
Should that fail it would likely mark the end of a 36-year involvement in the McLaren Group having been part of a takeover himself in 1980.
Sky report McLaren’s other shareholders as seeing the Chinese offer as “undesirable” despite the valuation totalling twice the current annual revenue of the company.
One potential reason for their scepticism is a lack of uncertainty over the identities of the potential Chinese investors which could only be described as an “asset manager” and a “private equity fund”.
The Chinese interest comes after earlier reports had suggested Apple were considering a bid for McLaren, though later it was revealed only a technological partnership had been discussed.
None of the relevant parties was reached for comment in the reports, though after the initial news broke last month a spokesman said discussions over equity movements were “often” and this recent boardroom unrest was “more of the same”.
The ongoing situation also has no bearing on the Formula One team, though would require a new CEO to be found, should Dennis be forced out.
