Torotrak raises £8.5m and invests in F1 firm

ENGINEERING group Torotrak has concluded a £6m licensing deal with Allison Transmission, which has also bought a 5% stake in the business for £2.5m.

In a stock market statement the Leyland business also said it had paid £3m for a 20% stake in Silverstone-based Flybrid Automotive which developed a fuel efifciency device for Formula 1 cars which is being applied to cars and commercial vehicles.

Under the terms of the Allison deal it will exclusively make and sell Torotrak’s innovative gearless traction drive systems.

However, it does not include the company’s work with Indian conglomerate Tata Motors and a major European truck and bus manufacturer which it does not name.

Chief executive Jeremy Deering said: “The announcement of the Allison agreement, and our investment in Flybrid, represent collectively an important milestone and I believe a true turning point for the company.

“The strategy we set out to achieve in November of a more diversified company with greater control of its routes to market, has taken a good step forward today. We are determined to get mechanical hybrid technology to market and with Flybrid we are setting up the supply and manufacturing arrangements to achieve that.”