Renault bought a 90 per cent stake of the Lotus F1 Team in December for just £1, company accounts have revealed.
The French manufacturer finalised a takeover of the team it previously owned in 2009 and will soon relaunch it under the Renault brand, with detailed plans to be revealed in February.
Accounts for Grigny (UK) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Renault, shows it made a token payment of just £1 to take a controlling stake in the team, with former majority shareholder Genii Capital retaining 10 per cent.
The takeover has however cost Renault far more, as a requirement of the deal, the company had to settle the team’s debts which totalled millions, including a HMRC debt which could have seen the team put into administration earlier this month.
The token payment is proof that Genii were keen to offload the team which had become a liability, racking up hundreds of millions in debt. However in return for writing off £98.2 million in loans it lent the team, it retains a 10 per cent stake in the hope it can finally profit from the deal.
