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Bahrain 'beat region to snap up McLaren stake'

Manama, April 3, 2008

Bahrain beat off competition from several other Middle Eastern governments to secure its 30 per cent stake in the McLaren Group, the firm's chairman and chief executive Ron Dennis has revealed.

Dennis also hailed the kingdom's 'absolute loyalty' during the spying scandal which engulfed his McLaren Mercedes F1 team last year, after he made the keynote address on the second day of the inaugural Motor Sport Business Forum Middle East in Sakhir.

Bahrain's efforts to convince him they were the best investor for his team were head and shoulders above other regional players, he told delegates.

'I had meetings with all of the key Middle Eastern countries and there are inevitably so many so-called intermediaries that exist that you get caught up never knowing whether these individuals were credible and whether they had the ability to get you in front of the right person at the right time to talk about whether theirs was the country to invest in our organisation,' he said.

Bahrain holds its 30 per cent stake in the McLaren Group - which includes the McLaren Mercedes team - through its investment holding company Mumtalakat, and  Dennis explained what impressed him about their investment pitch.

'I visited several other countries, I shall not name any of them. A deal nearly happened, but it never quite happened and there was always something slightly uncomfortable about the proposition that I ended up considering on behalf of my shareholders.'

'But when Bahrain visited us the chemistry was completely different. There is a wonderful blend of commercial awareness, tremendous amounts of business competence, but the best thing is it has the ability to be reactive when it has to be, and very considered when appropriate too.'

'That is very much the way I work and the way my colleagues work - we feel that if we have to do it tomorrow we'll do it tomorrow, and if we have to think about it for three months, whatever it is we'll think about it for three months. That's the way it works here in Bahrain too,' he said.

Dennis gave a revealing insight into the negotiations that led to Mumtalakat's first foreign investment.

'We had been negotiating for two days, and we reached a critical point with 15-minute discussion that took place at four in the morning prior to signing the contracts. That 15- minute discussion contained within it the moral commitments that we were making to each other and to me that was the most important 15 minutes of all the discussions.'

'As you all know our life at McLaren has been particularly challenging in the last few months and not one millisecond have my colleagues in Bahrain deviated away from the commitment that we made to each other - and that was words and not contracts, but words that had far more meaning,' he said.

He was alluding to the controversy regarding allegations that a McLaren employee received confidential technical details about the car of rival Ferrari, which eventually saw McLaren fined $100 million and booted out of the F1 constructors championship.

The Motor Sport Business Forum Middle East has been targeted by Bahrain as an opportunity to secure investment for its future automotive business and technology park.

Dennis urged his fellow delegates to become involved, and did not rule out a future McLaren initiative in Bahrain as part of its efforts to widen its revenue streams.

'For those of you that may be considering investing in this country all I can say is it has been the most amazing, emotional experience for myself and we intend to move forward into those areas that were our vision for the company.

'Only time will tell whether we are going to be successful in our objectives but with all due respect to my colleagues here I have held the belief for many, many years that any Formula One team that stays only a Formula One team will ultimately die and you have to have a broad




Tags: Bahrain | McLaren | Stake | Competition | beat |

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