McLaren has agreed to sell its Woking-based factory, the McLaren Technology Centre, to American firm Global Net Lease for £170 million.
The deal, which has been in negotiations for months, was announced on Tuesday and will see the MTC leased back to the team in a 20-year deal.
“We are excited to announce that this world-class facility will become part of the GNL portfolio,” GNL CEO James Nelson said.
“The McLaren Group Headquarters’ state of the art buildings have won numerous awards, were designed by renowned architect Norman Foster, and are the type of mission-critical, net-leased properties that make up the GNL portfolio.
“We are very pleased to have been able to collaborate and work with the management team of the McLaren Group to effect this transaction. We look forward to the long-term partnership with McLaren and the benefits this transaction will have to GNL.
“The acquisition exemplifies GNL’s ability to source large scale and accretive sale-leaseback opportunities in a competitive marketplace that add significant value to our overall portfolio. We believe our global presence as a leading net lease REIT will continue to provide attractive acquisition opportunities that complement our best-in-class portfolio.”
McLaren has faced financial over the past year in light of the pandemic and decided to free up in the short-term by selling the 840,000 square foot facility.
“Why have all this money tied up in real estate,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown said last year. “We’re not a real estate company.
“We’re a racing team and an automotive company. And that’s the start of the journey to start cleaning up the balance sheet.
“I think the majority of companies in this world don’t actually own the real estate that they are tenants of.
“We’ve got a lot of cash tied up in that building, as you can imagine, and that’s not a very productive use of funds when you’re looking to invest in your business.”