Wolff repurchases stake in former team Williams

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has made more market moves after repurchasing a five per cent stake in his former team Williams.

Wolff, already a shareholder at Mercedes and now also at Aston Martin after recently making an investment in the company following a takeover from his good friend Lawrence Stroll, has now re-added Williams back to his business portfolio.

The news comes in the wake of Williams undergoing a formal sales process, essentially making them open to offers, whether that is through a minority stake, a majority stake, or a full takeover of the company.

But, in what has been described as a ‘security’ investment, Wolff has reacquired a five per cent stake in the team where he used to be executive director according to F1 journalist Pete Windsor.

“It’s nice to see that yesterday the head of Mercedes Toto Wolff bought a five percent stake in Williams F1,” he reported on Twitter.

“For the first time in a long time, the team can begin to move in the right direction.”

Good to see that Mercedes' Toto Wolff yesterday bought back a five per cent shareholding in WilliamsF1. The team could be heading in the right direction for the first time in a while.. pic.twitter.com/m2tyXjAHX3

— Peter Windsor (@PeterDWindsor) June 5, 2020

He further reported: “Mercedes has pointed out that it is a Security and thus technically not a “buy-back”. A Security is ‘a first-priority interest in favour of the Security Agent in respect of all of the shares in such an Owner”.’

“Make of that what you will.”

Wolff previously had a 30 per cent stake in Williams before he moved to Mercedes. He sold 20 per cent to American businessman Brad Hollinger in 2014 and sold the other 10 per cent in 2016.

It remains to be seen if this is an early sign of more investment to come from Wolff or whether it will be just a timely cash injection to a team who are financially struggling.

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