INEOS owned business valued at £4.6bn

Over the last 12 months, INEOS name has arguably become most well known for its co-ownership of Manchester United, thanks to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s investment in the club.

Since Ratcliffe’s arrival, the focus has been on cutting costs, tightening PSR, and opening new income streams, from post-season and pre-season tours to opening Carrington for paid visits in June 2026, alongside a £50 million remodel of the training base.

However United isn’t their only involvement in the sporting world as INEOS also own OGC Nice and FC Lausanne-Sport, back the INEOS Grenadiers in cycling, and hold a one-third stake in the Mercedes Formula 1 team, alongside Mercedes and Toto Wolff, reflecting a strategy of anchoring the brand to elite, globally visible properties.

Now, one of INEOS’ other involvements has come into the limelight as BBC Sport report that Mercedes F1 is being valued at £4.6 billion in a prospective share sale involving team principal and CEO Toto Wolff.

Wolff, who owns one-third of the team, is in advanced talks to sell around 5% of his personal holding, with the team’s ownership otherwise unchanged between Mercedes (one-third) and INEOS (one-third).

The £4.6 billion figure would set a record valuation for an F1 team, surpassing McLaren’s £3.5 billion reference point from September’s ownership restructure, and represents a sharp uplift on INEOS’s 2022 entry price of £208 million for its stake.

Introducing the position, a Mercedes spokesperson said: “We will be making no comment on this.”

They continued: “The governance of the team will remain unchanged, and all three partners are fully committed to the ongoing success of Mercedes-Benz in Formula One.”

The valuation rise tracks Formula 1’s growth in recent seasons, with stronger commercial revenues, expanding audiences, and wider cultural reach, including the box-office performance of this summer’s F1 feature film (reported at more than $630 million).

On the track, Mercedes sit second in the constructors’ standings with three races remaining, while George Russell has taken two wins from 21 grands prix and is fourth in the drivers’ championship behind Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Max Verstappen.

Between 2014 and 2021, Mercedes won eight consecutive constructors’ titles and seven drivers’ crowns (six for Lewis Hamilton, one for Nico Rosberg). Set against that pedigree, the £4.6 billion marker underlines how team valuations have accelerated, and frames INEOS’s F1 stake as one of the most valuable holdings in its sports portfolio.