Formula 1 team McLaren have denied that they are in talks with Apple after reports emerged detailing a potential £1.5bn takeover bid for the supercar manufacturer.

McLaren chose to issue a statement on Wednesday to reject claims made in the Financial Times that talks between them and Apple had been ongoing “for several months”, although while they dismissed the report, they did add that they “regularly” hold “confidential conversations with a wide range of parties.”

The statement read: "We can confirm that McLaren is not in discussion with Apple in respect of any potential investment.

"As you would expect, the nature of our brand means we regularly have confidential conversations with a wide range of parties, but we keep them confidential."

The report also added that Apple were considering making a partial investment in McLaren if a complete takeover was not possible.

While Apple is known best for its iPhone, iPad, iWatch and Macbook collections, the US giant has made significant investments in the automotive sector which prompted suggestions that an Apple Car could be in the pipeline.

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The company invested $1bn [£770m] into Chinese app Didi Chuxing, a taxi-hailing service, earlier this year, and has also held tests with driverless electric cars.

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