Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds to help speed up F1 team Alpine Racing with $218m deal

Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are joining Otro Capital and RedBird Capital Partners in an investor group taking a 24% equity stake in Alpine Racing, the Formula One team's parent company Renault announced on Monday.

The €200 million ($218.10 million) deal values British-based Alpine Racing at around $900 million following the investment.

Alec Scheiner, the co-founder and partner of Otro Capital, will join Alpine Racing's board of directors.

'Deadpool' star Reynolds leads Maximum Effort Investments with McElhenney, of American comedy series 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia', and fellow-actor Michael B. Jordan as co-investors.

Reynolds and McElhenney took over Wrexham in November 2020, funding the Welsh soccer club's return to the English Football League as fifth-tier champions in April this year.

Their popular docu-series 'Welcome to Wrexham' has proved a big hit in North America, propelling the little-known club into the global spotlight.

Renault said Otro and RedBird's investment included the participation of the Huntsman Family and Main Street Advisors.

U.S. investment firm RedBird, run by former Goldman Sachs banker Gerry Cardinale, is an investor in Fenway Sports Group, the owner of Premier League side Liverpool and the Boston Red Sox baseball team.

RedBird also has a controlling stake in French soccer club Toulouse and bought Italy's AC Milan last August in a 1.2 billion euro deal that also involved the owners of the New York Yankees baseball team.

Alpine Racing, with a factory at Enstone in central England, won Formula One constructors' world championships in 2005 and 2006 when they competed as Renault's works team and also as Benetton in 1995.

They finished fourth in the championship last year and are currently fifth after eight of 22 races.

Renault said Alpine Racing SAS, the French entity that makes the team's power units in Viry-Châtillon, will remain entirely owned by the carmaker.

"This association is an important step to enhance our performance at all levels," said Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi.

"Otro Capital, RedBird Capital Partners and Maximum Effort Investments, as international players with strong track record in the sports industry, will bring their recognised expertise to boost our media and marketing strategy, essential to support our sporting performance over the long term.

"The incremental revenue generated will in turn be reinvested in the team, in order to further accelerate our Mountain Climber plan, aimed at catching up with top teams in terms of state-of-the-art facilities and equipment."

'Mountain Climber' is a plan to be fighting for championships within the space of 100 races, starting in 2022.

Meanwhile, British racing team Hitech have applied to enter a team in Formula One from 2026 with investment from Kazakh billionaire businessman Vladimir Kim.

Hitech Global Holdings, which owns and operates Hitech Grand Prix, said in a statement on Monday it had agreed the sale of a 25% interest to Kim.

Hitech Grand Prix currently competes in the Formula Two, Three and Four junior series and employs more than 150 people at Silverstone.

Previous Hitech drivers include Russian Nikita Mazepin, whose billionaire father Dmitry was a sponsor until the imposition of sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"In 2023, after 20 months of planning and extensive preparation at its Silverstone base, Hitech made its application for entry into the FIA Formula One world championship from the 2026 season," the company said on its website.

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It said the move "would complete its single-seater ladder and demonstrate that Hitech has all the right people, experience and resources to compete alongside the best teams in the world."

Formula One's governing body, the FIA, in February started a formal application process to identify one or more new teams interested in joining in 2025, 2026 or 2027 but no decision has been announced.

U.S.-based Andretti Global and General Motors are also seeking to compete using the Cadillac brand.

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