Dennis: Bahrain deal just a first step

McLaren announced last week that Dennis and Saudi investor Mansour Ojjeh's TAG Group were selling half their shares to Mumtalakat Holding Company, which is wholly owned by the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Mercedes parent DaimlerChrysler own the other 40 percent.

"It really gives us just the ability to raise our sights and to grow the group," Dennis told reporters when asked about the deal before the glittering launch of McLaren's 2007 car in Valencia.

"We've got unfulfilled ambitions as a group and this will contribute to fulfilling those ambitions, but I can't give you the details at this stage," he added.

Dennis, who will continue to have a 15 percent holding in the company that he has built up into a championship-winning team, said the proposed transaction was with the full approval of Mercedes.

"Clearly, for all the shareholders to support it it has to be good for everybody," he said.

"No one is unsupportive of what we are looking to achieve. The movement of shares is just one of several steps that will be taken during the course of the next months or years. It is only a beginning.

"I wouldn't just see it as a monetary thing, it is a bit more elaborate than that."

The deal is subject to the necessary competition law clearances, which are expected to be received within the next six weeks.

The Bahrain involvement followed media reports in Germany suggesting that Mercedes were close to buying the remaining 60 percent of McLaren after paying an estimated $400 million (USD) for their original stake in 1999.