The Renault-owned Alpine Formula 1 team is eyeing substantial improvements both on and off the track following a $220 million equity investment fronted by a trio of Hollywood actors.
Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, and Michael B. Jordan — working through Reynolds’ Maximum Effort Investments — will join Otro Capital and RedBird Capital Partners to acquire a 24% stake in the Alpine team at a valuation of about $900 million.
The jolt of new capital and star power is designed to transform the team’s business and competitive performance, taking advantage of F1’s commercial rise. Alpine now ranks in fifth place among teams, continuing a middling trend that saw it finish in fourth last year and fifth in 2021.
“We are going to reinvest into the team to accelerate our program of catchup to be at the level of the very top teams,” said Laurent Rossi, Alpine CEO. Last month, Rossi said the “trajectory is not good. We need to fix the mindset of the team ASAP.”
The new investors, with their extensive background in team operations in North America, Europe, and Asia, will aid core revenue-generating functions for Alpine, including sponsorship, merchandising, hospitality, and media.
“Alpine is for me something absolutely special,” said Luca de Meo, Renault Group CEO. “Two years ago, it was a dead end. Formula 1 was not considered an asset, but a cost. A mere line in the marketing budget. In only two years, everything changed.”
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