Longbow Finance to Take Over Electric Car Racing Series, the Sauber F1 Team

Swiss investment vehicle Longbow Finance will take over the Sauber F1 Team, a financially troubled racing team in Formula 1. Raymond Baer, the honorary chairman of Julius Baer, is among the investors will act as global sponsors for the first completely electric car racing series.

Just days ago, the new owners signed the contract buying shares from Peter Sauber and team boss Monisha Kaltenborn, a protege of Peter Sauber’s and the first female CEO of a Formula 1 racing team. Kate born is expected to maintain her position as CEO and team boss, and she’s expected to join the board.

Former private banker Raymond Baer is now honorary chairman of Julius Baer and is part of Longbow Finance’s board. For nearly two years, Julius Baer has been the sponsor of Formula E, which is an environmentally-friendly alternative to Formula 1.

Privately-held packaging firm Tetra Laval (a sponsor of Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson) or Tetra Pak owns Longbow, which belongs to Sweden’s wealthy Raising family. With that said, the motorsports portal Speedweek has said that CEO Dennis Joensson, a huge motor racing fan, is behind the Tetra Pak’s backing of Longbow and Sauber, not the Rausing family.

Automotive investments aren’t necessarily Longbow’s strong suits, evident by the fact they granted financier Lorenzo Schmid a loan of more than 20 million Swiss francs nine years ago for the purpose of developing an electric commuter vehicle, which filed for bankruptcy in 2012.