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With McLaren chasing its first constructors' title since 1998, CEO Zak Brown recalled a tough time when his team faced a financial crisis in 2020. Brown revealed that a £185 million cash injection from MSP Sports Capital helped the Papaya team recover. This helped them improve the infrastructure at their technology centre in Woking, England. The deal fueled McLaren's resurgence from being a mid-field team to being a title contender within two seasons.
As quoted by The Athletic, Zak Brown disclosed that McLaren was mere months away from going broke during the Covid-hit 2020 season. A major investment was the need of the hour. The Papaya team thus made a conscious decision to sell sizeable team shares to an American-based sports investment group, MSP Sports Capitals. The deal, valued at £185 million, injected financial stability and ensured that McLaren's progress remained unaffected by the crunch.
“We were definitely on the brink. We were paying all our bills. But we were months away, and not several months, from … We knew we could make it through the year. But we were in a situation where if we didn’t have a cash injection, we would have been a risk at (not) starting the year," said Zak Brown.
