Renault has formally completed its takeover of the Lotus F1 team
Renault has finally completed its takeover of Lotus and will officially compete in Formula 1 from 2016 as a works entrant
The rubberstamping of the deal was effectively done on Monday at the High Court in London, with an insolvency petition formally dismissed.
Earlier this month Renault announced the signing of principal contracts with regard to it purchasing a majority stake in Lotus.
Both parties, however, were forced to head back to the High Court on December 7 to confirm to Justice Birrs a deal was all but concluded.
Lotus's case with HMRC, in respect of owing £2.7million in back PAYE, had twice previously been adjourned due to ongoing negotiations at the time with Renault.
Lotus then asked for a final 14 days to tie up all the loose ends with Renault, with payments to a long list of creditors - including HMRC - needing to be made, along with the signing of the all-important share purchase agreement [SPA].
Speaking to Autosport, Lotus CEO Matthew Carter said: "Everything has all gone through and is all completed. The payments to the creditors were released late last week.
"Today was effectively just a simple box-ticking exercise."
In court, lawyers representing Renault were able to inform Justice Birrs: "We have the keys, so to speak", allowing him to dismiss the case.
Via a statement, Renault confirmed its takeover of Lotus was completed on Friday.
The new team name, full management structure, team partners and other details are to be announced during an event to be held in Paris in February.
In the interim, a new board of directors has been appointed, with Jerome Stoll as chairman and Cyril Abiteboul as managing director.
Renault claim "the technical teams are making good progress to have the 2016 car ready for testing in Barcelona at the end of February".
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