Dennis loses McLaren court fight after £1.6bn bid - report

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Ron Dennis has failed in a High Court attempt to keep control of McLaren following a £1.65bn takeover bid from Chinese investors, according to a report.

Sky News' City Editor Mark Kleinman reports a consortium of Chinese investors tabled the bid for the company last week, which Dennis presented to McLaren. However, Kleinman reports it was "a move which prompted his fellow shareholders to launch a plot to oust him as chief executive."

Kleinman also claims Dennis was in the High Court on Thursday and Friday "in an attempt to secure an injunction against a move to place him on gardening leave until his contract expires in mid-January."

It has previously been reported that Dennis has been told his contract as chief executive would not be extended, and the Sky News report says his move was rejected, "leading to an emergency board meeting of McLaren being convened on Friday evening that is expected to lead to his immediate suspension as chief executive."

As of Saturday morning, F1i understands Dennis remains chairman and chief executive officer of McLaren Technology Group, as the situation continues to be unclear.

Dennis - who owns 25% of McLaren - has been in a power struggle with fellow shareholders Mansour Ojjeh (25%) and Bahraini sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat (50%) for some time, and it appears the Chinese offer was met with opposition from the latter two.

When contacted by F1i about the report, McLaren would not comment.

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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.