AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)01/31 Report--

On January 31st, according to the Financial Times, Aston Martin reached an agreement with Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll to sell a minority stake in Aston Martin, providing the British luxury carmaker with much-needed funding to start production of its first SUV model.

Aston Martin said in a statement on Friday that the consortium led by Lawrence Strol would acquire a 16.7% stake in Lawrence Strol for 182 million pounds (about 1.658 billion yuan), while a subsequent rights issue backed by major shareholders such as Stroll would raise a further 318 million pounds (2.897 billion yuan).

On January 11, the Financial Times quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Geely was looking to invest in Aston Martin, a century-old British luxury car brand, and had held talks with investors and management of the company. British luxury carmaker Aston Martin recalled its board on Thursday to decide whether to raise money by selling shares, led by Chinese automaker Geely Motor and Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroh. the two sides proposed to invest about 200m pounds to acquire a 20 per cent stake in the company and gain a board seat.

Lawrence Strol, 60, made a fortune by building and selling Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors brands. Aston Martin said that from the 2021 season, Lawrence Strol will become a member of the Aston Martin F1 team. In addition, Lawrence Strol will join the board of Aston Martin as executive chairman to replace the outgoing Penny Hughes.

What is really noticeable is that Aston Martin's financial position has been tight since its listing on the London Stock Exchange in October 2018, and Aston Martin has lost money for two consecutive quarters due to poor performance. According to the financial report, Aston Martin lost 92.3 million pounds (834 million yuan) before tax in the first three quarters of 2019, compared with a profit of 23.9 million pounds in the same period last year. In terms of sales, Aston Martin sold 5819 cars in 2019, down 7 per cent from 2018.

In fact, as early as the end of last year, there were media reports that Aston Martin was in talks with a number of investors, in addition to Canadian millionaire Lawrence Strol, another acquirer was Chinese-owned car brand Geely.

As we all know, Geely acquired Volvo for $1.8 billion in 2010, making it one of the top 500 companies in the world. In June 2017, Geely signed an agreement with Malaysia's DRB-HICOM Group to acquire 49.9 per cent of DRB-HICOM 's Proton Motor and 51 per cent of luxury sports car brand Lutes. In 2018, Geely Motor acquired 9.69% of Daimler Group shares at a price of 9 billion yuan through its overseas enterprises, making it the largest shareholder of Daimler Group. At present, Geely owns Geely, Geometry, Lecker, Proton and Lutes brands, while Volvo owns Volvo and Polar Star brands.

Geely's acquisition of Aston Martin and the integration of its Lutes brand may save money on technology and automotive platforms, so Geely prefers to work with Aston Martin on technology sharing, according to the Financial Times. Aston Martin "cooled" his ideas about Geely after negotiations with texture lacquer.

It is understood that Aston Horse, headquartered in Gayton, UK, mainly produces convertible station wagons, racing cars and limited edition sports cars. The company was founded in March 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Ban. Aston Martin was acquired by Ford in 1987 and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford in 1994. In 2007, Aston Martin was acquired by Prodrive boss David Richards for $925 million, and Aston Martin's largest shareholder is European Strategic Investment Group.

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