Toto Wolff Preparing to Divest Shareholding Pricing Mercedes Formula 1 Team at £4.6 Billion
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is engaged in final negotiations to offload a portion of his shareholding in the Mercedes F1 outfit.
The deal estimates the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – a record for an F1 team – following McLaren was appraised at £3.5 billion in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.
Wolff, who holds a 33% stake of Mercedes F1, plans to divest a stake in the region of 5%.
The 53-year-old will remain as team boss and CEO should the deal proceed.
Shareholder Breakdown
Remaining partners in the team are Mercedes-Benz and industrial group Ineos Group, who both hold a third of the enterprise.
An official representative said: "We will be making no official statement on this. The management structure of the team will remain unaltered, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of the brand in F1."
Financial Increase
This arrangement would represent a substantial rise in value of Mercedes F1 after Ineos acquired its stake for £208m in 2022.
The rise demonstrates the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently due to the increasing appeal of the sport globally.
This was also seen in the box-office performance of the Formula 1 film starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which was released last summer and has grossed over $630m (£458m) at cinemas worldwide.
It is the actor's top-grossing film and the highest-earning sports film to date.
Present Performance
Mercedes are second in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren, with three races left this season.
Their lead driver George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races this year and is fourth in the individual standings behind McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The team secured a record eight straight team titles and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one by Nico Rosberg, between 2014 and 2021.