Hollywood actors to invest millions in F1 team

Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have joined an investor group taking a 24 percent equity stake in the Alpine F1 team.

Alpine's parent company Renault announced the €200m (£171m) deal with Otro Capital, Maximum Effort Investments and RedBird Capital Partners, with the Enstone-based squad valued at around £700m following the investment.

The deal will see Otro co-founder and partner Alec Scheiner joining Alpine's board of directors, and Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi added that the money would be reinvested into the team as they seek to climb up the order.

"This association is an important step to enhance our performance at all levels," said Rossi.

"The incremental revenue generated will in turn be reinvested in the team, in order to further accelerate our Mountain Climber plan, aimed at catching up with top teams in terms of state-of-the-art facilities and equipment."

Renault's statement added that Alpine Racing SAS, which manufactures the team's F1 engines in Viry-Chatillon, France, is not part of the transaction and will remain entirely owned by Renault Group.

Who are Alpine's new investors?

Deadpool star Reynolds leads Maximum Effort Investments, with McElhenney, of American comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and fellow actor Michael B. Jordan as co-investors.

Reynolds and McElhenney notably took over Wrexham FC in November 2020, with the increased funding helping the Wales-based club gain promotion back to England's Football League for the first time in 15 years.

The accompanying docu-series Welcome to Wrexham has proved a big hit worldwide, propelling the club into the global spotlight and attracting major sponsors such as TikTok.

RedBird also have experience investing in sports franchises, having bought into Fenway Sports Group, which owns Premier League side Liverpool FC and the Boston Red Sox baseball team.

The firm also has a controlling stake in French football club Toulouse, and last August joined forces with the owners of the New York Yankees to purchase Italy's AC Milan in a €1.2bn (£1bn) deal.