You can’t buy much for a dollar these days, but Renault->ke72 has amazingly proved otherwise. The automaker just purchased a 90-percent stake in the Lotus Formula One->ke662 race team for a mere £1, or roughly $1.50.

The Lotus->ke49 F1 team’s former owners, Genii Capital and Gravity Motorsports continue to hold the other 10 percent stake. However, in order for Genii to sell its majority stake in the team, it had to purchases 6,744,444 shares from Whiterock Allicance Ltd., which then allowed the company to give £98.2 million of shareholder loans to Lotus.

The business behind the purchasing is rather complicated, but will allow the Lotus F1 team to continue to operate thanks to the investments and debt relief that came with the acquisition. Lotus’ F1 team had long been searching for an investor that would help pay off its debts and allow for continued operation.

It seems Lotus lucked up with Renault coming in. The automaker has four F1 drivers’ titles under its belt, thanks to drivers Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso.

It will be interesting to see how the Lotus F1 team does this upcoming season. Stay tuned to TopSpeed for future news.

Continue reading for the full story.

Why it matters

Race teams spend lots of money. Without big donors and supporters, along with occasionally winning a race, things can turn south quickly. Thankfully for Lotus, Renault sees opportunity in the team and has agreed to manage Lotus’ past depts.