Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney buy into Formula One team
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Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the actors who lifted Wrexham FC to global prominence after buying the Welsh soccer club in 2020, have turned their attention to Formula One racing, joining an investment group that is taking a 24 percent equity stake in the Alpine Racing F1 team.
Renault Group, the French company that is Alpine’s parent, announced the investment Monday by a group that includes Otro Capital, RedBird Capital Partners and the actors’ Maximum Effort Investments, in which actor Michael B. Jordan is also an investor. RedBird is also an investor in Fenway Sports Group, owner of the Boston Red Sox, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Liverpool of the English Premier League. RedBird also owns AC Milan of Italy’s Serie A and has a controlling interest in the French club Toulouse FC.
“The transaction values Alpine Racing Ltd. around $900 million following this investment,” the team said in a statement. “It will accelerate Alpine’s growth plans and sporting ambitions in F1.”
Reynolds and McElhenney completed a $2.5 million takeover of Wrexham FC in November 2020, and the club’s promotion to the fourth tier of English soccer this season after a 15-year absence was a feel-good story that expanded a local audience of die-hard fans in the blue-collar town about 40 miles from Liverpool into a global phenomenon fueled partly by the FX docuseries “Welcome to Wrexham.”
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The new owners spent big on forward Ollie Palmer and added Paul Mullin, a Liverpool youth product and former League Two top scorer. They broke ground on improvements to the team’s Racehorse Ground stadium. King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited, as did David Beckham. “It’s been a real fast track in every department of the club to upgrade everything,” Manager Phil Parkinson told The Washington Post this spring.
With Alpine Racing, there is similar room for growth. The team won Formula One constructors’ world championships in 2005 and 2006 when it competed as Renault F1 and also as Benetton in 1995. Alpine, which sits fifth in the constructor standings after eight of the season’s 22 races, finished fourth in the championship last year.
“This association is an important step to enhance our performance at all levels,” Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi said in a statement.
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Source: The Washington Post
