Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsLotus F1

Renault to complete Lotus takeover next week

Renault is set to complete its takeover of the Lotus team on December 16 and pay creditors by the end of the year, the High Court has heard.

Lotus has had a case brought against it by Revenue and Customs over unpaid tax, with Monday's hearing at the High Court one of many to have taken place over the past few months. Following Renault's announcement on Thursday that it would be purchasing the struggling team, the latest hearing was adjourned until December 21.

With a lawyer for Lotus saying "we are in a different territory now", none of the creditors objected to the adjournment, prompting the judge, Mr Justice Birss, to say: "You got away with it...or rather, it has been got away with."

With Renault intending to complete its share purchase agreement next week, Lotus chief executive Matthew Carter says matters should be finalised by the end of the month.

"It's the 16th for the SPA (share purchase agreement) and they (Renault) are agreeing to pay all the creditors by the 31st," Carter told Reuters. "So I guess when we come back on the 21st it will be to ensure that the SPA has been signed.

"It's been an interesting process all the way through but we are where we are."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.