McLaren: Ron Dennis confirms his suspension

Ron Dennis finally confirmed himself his suspension as executive director and president of McLaren Technology Group until the end of its contract which will end in mid-January 2017.

The Briton, present for more than 35 years within the Woking company, found himself confronted with other McLaren shareholders, Mansour Ojjeh and the Bahraini investment fund Mumtalakat who between them hold 75% of McLaren's shares. Group, after having received a Chinese consortium which would have submitted a buyout offer worth 1,6 billion pounds (1,85 billion euros). Shareholders reacted last Friday by agreeing to remove Ron Dennis from his position. The former head ofAlain Prost and Ayrton Senna made an application to the High Court which was rejected.

“I am disappointed that the representatives of TAG and Mumtalakat, McLaren's other shareholders, have forced me to suspend me with this decision despite warnings from the rest of the management team about the potential consequences of their actions on the business.”, commented Ron Dennis in his press release.

“The reasons given are completely false, my approach to management has always remained the same and it is this which has allowed McLaren to become an automotive and technological group which has won 20 world titles in F1 and which has become a business worth 850 million pounds (around 984 million euros) per year. Throughout this time I have worked closely with a talented group of colleagues to keep McLaren at the forefront of technology and I will always be very grateful to them.", specified Ron Dennis.

“It ultimately became clear that TAG and Mumtalakat do not share my vision for McLaren and its potential for development., Ron Dennis continued. But my first concern in this business that I carried out concerns its 3500 employees. I will continue to use my powers as a shareholder in both companies (McLaren Technology Group and McLaren Automotive) to protect the interests and values ​​of McLaren and secure its future. »

Ron Dennis does not intend to go green once his contract with McLaren expires.

“I plan to launch a new investment fund on new technologies once my commitments with McLaren come to an end. This will be capitalized on my expertise, my financial resources accompanied by external investors to respond to the numerous commercial offers that I have received in recent years but to which I was unable to respond while I was engaged in other responsibilities”, warned the Briton.