Hollywood STAR Ryan Reynolds joins Alpine investors in €200 million deal

Alpine

Hollywood STAR Reynolds joins Alpine investors in €200 million deal

Reynolds and actor Rob McElhenney already own Wrexham FC

Lauren Sneath

Monday 26 June 2023 10:57 Updated: 10:07

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have joined a group of investors to buy a stake in Alpine Racing.

The Hollywood actors add Alpine to a sports portfolio that already includes ownership of Wrexham FC.

The investment group has paid €200 million a 24 per cent equity stake in Alpine Racing, a deal valuing Alpine’s full worth at about £700 million.

Sporting connections

Reynolds and McElhenney will be hoping to take strides as large as they have with Wrexham, after the Welsh football club won the National League in April and will soon return to the English Football League.

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In a similar fashion to Netflix's Drive to Survive, their TV series Welcome to Wrexham on Disney+ drew in many American fans and has done wonders for the club’s visibility.

Otro Capital and RedBird Capital are also involved in the group, the latter being run by Gerry Cardinale.

Cardinale is already an investor in Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC.

RedBird also owns AC Milan and has a controlling stake in French football club Toulouse.

The Mountain Climber plan

Alpine, which came fourth in last year’s championship, hope to climb the rankings with a plan called ‘Mountain Climber’.

The plan’s goal is to be fighting for championships within 100 races of when they started the plan in 2022.

Laurent Rossi, Alpine CEO, said of the investment move: "This association is an important step to enhance our performance at all levels.

"Otro Capital, RedBird Capital Partners and Maximum Effort Investments, as international players with strong track record in the sports industry, will bring their recognised expertise to boost our media and marketing strategy, essential to support our sporting performance over the long term."

Laurent Rossi is hoping to take Alpine to the fight for the championship

He added: "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."