It came hot on the heels of a similar but higher profile investment in Alpine by a group that included Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds and a string of sporting legends, and it follows a pattern that has also seen the likes of Williams and McLaren receive funding from the US.
The bottom line is that F1 is now regarded as a good business in which to be involved, in essence because of the franchise system that maintains the value of teams. The push for financial regulations that has kept a lid on spending as income from all sources has risen has helped to boost those values.
The Aston Martin case is intriguing because few thought that Lawrence Stroll would be willing to cede a stake in the team.
“We met them two years ago,” Aston managing director Jefferson Slack says of Arctos. “They’re really best in class. They’ve specialised in long-term minority stakes and top franchises.
“There are not many people that are doing that, although you’re getting a lot more money coming into sports, institutional capital. These guys have been the leaders in doing that.
“A lot of people have approached us and Lawrence to invest in the team. And we’re in a very unique situation, we have one owner that controls the whole team, and can decide on lunch if it’s the right deal.
“It’s not a complicated process, it was just these guys were clearly the right guys, mainly from a strategic standpoint.”
Arctos might not have any household names associated with it, but there is a strong element of showbiz background. Managing partner David “Doc” O’Connor spent 32 years at talent agency CAA, where his roster of A-list clients included Sean Connery, Robert Redford, Michael Douglas, Bruce Willis and Eddie Murphy, among others.
Photo by: Adam Cooper
Arctos logo, Aston Martin AMR23
He then had a spell as CEO of the Madison Square Garden group, which as well as New York’s most famous sports and entertainment venue also owns Radio City Music Hall, sports media networks, and the NBA’s New York Knicks and the NHL’s New York Rangers franchises.
It was after he left that role in 2019 that O’Connor directed his attention to investing in sport, promoted by a major change in the landscape. Franchise values were rising in all major US sports leagues, and in effect starting to put the cost of owning teams beyond the scope of even the wealthiest individuals.
Leagues began to realise that they had to relax the regulations that previously…
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