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Apple reportedly in talks with McLaren over buyout

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By Haley Velasco, Freelance journalist

September 22, 2016 | 3 min read

Apple has allegedly been in talks with McLaren Technology Group, the British car engineer and Formula One team owner, about a possible acquisition. This under wraps discussion is the clearest that the company has come to announcing what it has planned to transform the automotive industry — Apple chief executive Tim Cook has never publicly acknowledged Apple’s automotive project.

McLaren

McLaren

After working on self-driving electric vehicles for the last two years, Apple is considering a full takeover of McLaren, or a strategic investment in the company, according to The Financial Times. Apple has been building up a team of engineers and designers, from places like Tesla and Mercedes-Benz, since 2014 to work on the electric car.

Earlier this month, Apple laid off dozens of employees from its self-driving car project, named Project Titan, after bringing former senior vice president of technologies Bob Mansfield out of retirement to head the project.

The layoffs coupled with the fact that Wayne Bruce, a spokesman for McLaren, said in a statement that the company was “not in discussion with Apple in respect of any potential investment” made the possible acquisition seem unlikely.

However, McLaren did not deny having any conversations with Apple at all. In a phone call with The New York Times, Bruce said, “The nature of our business means we regularly have conversations with all sorts of parties, but those conversations remain confidential. We’re not in a position to confirm or deny any previous conversation.”

Apple’s interest in McLaren is based on the technology, engineering expertise and portfolio that the company holds, according to three people briefed on the negotiations, but it was unclear whether a deal was going to occur. In addition to its Formula One business, where they build race and high-performance vehicles, McLaren also has developed the P1 hypercar, which is a plug-in hybrid that can travel more than six miles on electric alone. Additionally, through an acquisition, Apple would gain McLaren's private development center in England.

The acquisition of McLaren, which is valued between £1bn and £1.5bn, would be Apple’s biggest acquisition since the $3bn purchase of Beats Electronics.

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