Caterham has confirmed that it has sold its F1 team to a consortium of Swiss and Middle-Eastern investors. According to an official statement, all other Caterham Group brands “remain as core elements” of the holding company headquartered in the U.K. The amount for which the outfit changed hands hasn’t been disclosed.
Caterham Cars, Caterham Racing (GP2), Caterham Moto Racing Team (Moto2), Caterham Bikes, Caterham Composites and Caterham Technology & Innovation (CTI) will continue to operate under the direction of CEO Graham Macdonald and shareholders Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun.
The British holding also states that the order book for its car-building division are full until January 2015, with production slated to be ramped up in September to satisfy increasing and “unprecedented global demand” for the Seven open two-seater super-lightweight sports car. Furthermore, Caterham Composites has “increased its workload in the aviation, marine and automotive sectors” and continues with the development work on an all-new flagship known internally under the C120 moniker. Former Midland and HRT Formula 1 team principal Colin Kolles will head up the consortium that bought the Caterham F1 Team, while former Minardi F1 driver Christijan Albers will manage day-to-day operations of the team. Fortunately, it’s been officially confirmed that the team will retain the Caterham F1 Team moniker.
“The future for us now lies with all the exciting brands that make up Caterham Group. We will be looking to maximise the benefits of the F1 platform across all our brands , working closely with the new team owners, and our core focus is still on launching the brand new two-seat Caterham Car, a project we will be making more announcements about in due course.” declared Graham Macdonald, the Caterham Group’s chief executive officer.
