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Abu Dhabi's Aabar, Daimler buy F1 champions Brawn GP
Source: BI-ME and Bloomberg , Author: BI-ME staff
Posted: Tue November 17, 2009 10:05 am
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INTERNATIONAL. Daimler AG and Abu Dhabi fund Aabar Investments PJSC are paying about £110 million (US$183 million) to buy Brawn Grand Prix, whose driver Jenson Button won this year’s Formula One championship.

The car maker took a 45.1% stake and Aabar 30% in the team, which will be known as Mercedes Grand Prix, the fund said in a statement today. Ross Brawn, the Brackley, England- based team’s manager retains a shareholding.

Daimler will sell its 40% stake in the McLaren team over two years as the German company cuts its Formula One spending by 25%, Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche said on a conference call today. Daimler uses Formula One to promote its Mercedes-Benz brand, while Aabar sees Brawn as a way to market Abu Dhabi.

The Brawn team provides an “excellent platform,” Zetsche told reporters. Daimler’s Mercedes unit couldn’t pursue its goals in Formula One as well with McLaren because it was too focused on promoting a sports-car business, Zetsche added.

Brawn, who helped Michael Schumacher win a record seven Formula One titles as a technical director, led the team named after him to success after overseeing a management buyout of Honda Motor Co.’s team. He will remain the Mercedes team manager, the Aabar statement said.

“We’re talking about almost £110 million to hold Brawn,” Aabar Chairman Khadem Abdulla Al- Qubaisi said in a telephone interview.

“The senior management group will remain in place,” Brawn said in the statement. “We are honored to be representing such a prestigious brand as Mercedes-Benz.”

Daimler is cutting its Formula One spending after Honda, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Toyota Motor Corp. quit Formula One the last year on slumping sales. Mercedes will continue to provide engines to McLaren until 2015, Zetsche said.

Aabar’s Al-Qubaisi said its stake in Brawn will help promote Abu Dhabi, which held its first Formula One race November 1.

“It is a very low-cost team,” Al-Qubaisi said. “This will be a big promotion for Abu Dhabi,” he said, adding the Aabar fund was “in general” representing the government in the deal.

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