Mercedes has withdrawn from negotiations to acquire a minority stake in the Alpine Formula 1 team after disagreeing with the seller's asking price.
Mercedes, already supplying power units and gearboxes to Alpine, had agreed in principle with majority owner Renault to purchase Otro Capital's 24 percent stake. The deal has now collapsed because Otro Capital's 720 million dollar price tag values the team at 3 billion dollars, exceeding what Mercedes considers a sound investment. Alpine insiders confirmed the talks have stopped, while both Mercedes and Alpine declined to comment on the matter.