Ownership of the Caterham F1 team has changed hands. Tony Fernandes and his partners have sold the team to a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors.
A statement confirming the deal reiterated that the rest of the Caterham Group was unaffected.
It read: "All other Caterham Group brands – Caterham Cars, Caterham Composites, Caterham Technology & Innovation (CTI), Caterham Racing (GP2), Caterham Moto Racing Team (Moto2) and Caterham Bikes, remain as core elements of Caterham Group under the direction of chief executive Graham Macdonald and shareholders Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun".
The new owners are being advised by Colin Kolles, the Romanian who has been involved in several Formula 1 teams including Jordan, Spyker and Force India.
The amount paid for the team has not been disclosed, but under the terms of the sale, the outfit will continue to race as Caterham F1 Team and will remain based at Leafield Technical Centre, Oxfordshire, for the foreseeable future.
The new ownership takes charge with immediate effect. Former Dutch F1 driver, Christijan Albers, assisted by Manfredi Ravetto, will take over the day-to-day running of the team, reporting directly to the board.
The move follows speculation in May that Fernandes could be considering selling off all of his interests in Caterham Group – something that the Malaysian aviation entrepreneur quickly refuted. However, he did say at the time that the group is actively searching for additional investment as it “seeks to fulfil ambitious plans to develop” the company.
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