Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes F1 at £4.6 Billion
Toto Wolff is engaged in advanced talks to offload part of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates Mercedes at £4.6bn – a record for a Formula 1 squad – after McLaren were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to corporate structure in September.
The Austrian executive, who owns a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a shareholding in the region of five percent.
Wolff, aged 53 will remain as team principal and CEO if the sale goes through.
Shareholder Structure
The other shareholders in the team are Mercedes and chemicals giant Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.
An official representative stated: "We are providing no official statement on this. The governance of Mercedes F1 stays unaltered, and all three partners are dedicated to continued achievements of the brand in Formula One."
Valuation Growth
The deal signifies a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise reflects the expansion in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the growing popularity of Formula 1 around the world.
This was also seen in the success of the Formula 1 film featuring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed over $630 million (£458 million) at the box office.
The film represents the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Current Performance
The Mercedes team are second in the constructors' championship, trailing McLaren, with three Grands Prix remaining in the current championship.
Mercedes' primary racer British driver George Russell has secured victory in two of the 21 grands prix so far and is in fourth place in the individual standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen.
Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight team titles and seven driver championships, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, from 2014 and 2021.
