Caterham, the British sports car manufacturer and Formula One team, is reportedly going up for sale, with an information memorandum said to have already been sent to potential investors in the Middle East. The information was first reported by The Edge Malaysia, citing an unnamed source.
Caterham’s current owner, a small consortium led by Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes, is reportedly seeking £350 million (approximately $589 million) for the entire Caterham portfolio, which not only includes the aforementioned sports car arm and F1 team but also the Caterham Technology and Innovation (CTI) and Caterham Composites divisions.
The news of the sale comes following comments made by Fernandes at the start of the year which suggested Caterham would have to pull out of F1 if the team’s performance didn’t improve. At present, Caterham is tied for last spot with Sauber in the constructor rankings.
In addition, it was reported a couple of months back that an alliance formed between Caterham and French automaker Renault to develop a new sports car platform had been dissolved.
Fernandes first took the reins of Caterham in 2011 and shortly after announced plans to turn it into a mainstream brand with a range of high-performance cars, explaining at one point that he wanted to see it become the ‘Porsche of Asia’.
Stay tuned for an update.
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