GPWizard F1 Forum
F1 News & Discussions => F1 Teams => Topic started by: Dare on November 16, 2016, 05:06:47 AM
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The rumor becomes fact
http://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2016/11/ron-dennis-steps-down-from-mclaren-role.html
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The word is that Ron attempted a £1.65billion ($2.05bn) hostile take over funded by Chinese interests. It failed & he's gone.
http://www.racer.com/f1/item/136437-dennis-steps-down-from-mclaren-role
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Not sorry to see him go, no doubt he knows his job inside but I, for some reason even I can't pin down, have never liked the man.
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Not sorry to see him go, no doubt he knows his job inside but I, for some reason even I can't pin down, have never liked the man.
I've always felt he was a key figure in moving F1 from the garagistas into serious competition. If you're a fan of the small privateer, that would be a good reason.
I liked him, because one of the things I like best about F1 is the variety of personalities which is reflected in the competition. McLaren, the team, struck as more technical than anyone else, and other teams had to learn McLaren's game to stay in the sport.
Very few other sports have management roles featured so prominently, which is another aspect that I love about F1.
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He certainly isn't very appealing as a personality, but that seems to be a theme in F1 these days (with a couple of exceptions). His stubborn-ness is likely what brought him to a hostile takeover attempt. The company is bleeding money, so I don't know why he would want to take it over anyway, and I don't see that changing any day soon - even if the '17 engine is a Merc slayer, it will be another year or two before that actually pays off at the bank. Still, hats off to you Mr. Dennis, you gave us a good run over the last 30 years. Enjoy retirement.
So is Boullier going to run the team now?
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The Chinese offer appears to still be live, and Dennis still owns 25% of the company, so there is still a very good possibility that if the offer is accepted, that Dennis could be waiting in the shadows to jump back in with the new owners...things could be interesting at McLaren over the winter.
http://www.china.org.cn/sports/2016-11/18/content_39732493.htm?
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The Chinese offer appears to still be live, and Dennis still owns 25% of the company, so there is still a very good possibility that if the offer is accepted, that Dennis could be waiting in the shadows to jump back in with the new owners...things could be interesting at McLaren over the winter.
From what I can remember of various statements from Ron in the last 18 months he has been trying to put together finance to buy out the others from McLaren. Whether he had some kind of agreement to buy all, or part, of the others holdings was never really made clear but there seems to have been a split developing over a long time. Ron's contract with the company was set to expire early next year and his majority partners chose not to extend his tenure. Rather than retire it looks like Ron chose to attempt a last minute takeover with Chinese backers.
This seems to have been the final straw as far as the other majority shareholders are concerned, prompting early gardening leave for Ron. Mumtalakat and TAG the holders of 75% of McLaren shares have made it clear they want nothing to do with Ron's takeover plans, they will certainly know accepting the takeover offer will let Ron back in, why would they bother throwing him out if that's the outcome? :confused:
I'd say the hostile bid is dead in the water, sure it still exists on paper but I'd rate it's chance of success slimmer than Manor's chances of winning a GP this year. ;)
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Ron Dennis has always exemplified someone who really does care about Formula 1 and McLaren. I admire that and I will miss his passion and commitment to Formula 1. He is a divisive figure though and some of his behaviour hasn't endeared him to everyone. I found the BBC feature on him to be an interesting read: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/38000198.