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A few days ago, a number of media frequently reported that Geely Automobile will acquire British luxury car manufacturer Aston. Martin, but now it's a failure. Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll has bought a 16.7 percent stake in Aston Martin for £ 182 million, the company said in a statement.

Earlier last month, Reuters and the Financial Times reported that Geely was seeking to invest in Aston Martin, a century-old British luxury car brand, and had held talks with investors and management of the company to invest in Aston. Martin has a 19.9% stake in the company, involving £ 200m, and Geely has a stake in Aston. Martin conducted due diligence, but the plan failed within January.

Although Geely and Strohl were both willing to pay £ 200m for a 20% stake in Aston Martin and promised further financial support, Aston Martin eventually chose a consortium led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Strohl. A follow-up rights issue initiated by major shareholders, including Strohl, will raise an additional £ 318m. After the rights issue is completed, Strohl's stake is likely to increase to 20%.

According to sources, Strohl was chosen because Aston Martin carefully weighed the benefits that a consortium led by Strohl could bring to Aston Martin. Current Aston Martin CEO Penny Hughes mentioned that Strohl is a Canadian investor who owns a Formula 1 racing team. He said: "Strohl not only brings experience but also links him to Formula 1 teams. We've talked a lot over the years about wanting to be solidly rooted in high-end cars, and obviously Strohl knows a lot about high-end cars."

Although Aston Martin is a luxury car brand, it faces difficulties in terms of large capital and performance, so it hopes to solve the current problems through financing. Aston Martin was valued at around £ 5bn when it went public and is now valued at around £ 1.5bn. Aston Martin sold 5819 vehicles worldwide in 2019, down 7% from 2018.

Aston Martin lost £ 13.5 million before tax for the quarter, compared with a profit of £ 3.1 million in the same period last year, with revenue down 11 per cent year-on-year to £ 250 million, according to the latest third quarterly report. Adjusted operating profit for the third quarter was £ 13.4 million, down 51% year-on-year.

Geely cars, which have continued to be deployed overseas in recent years, such as the acquisition of Aston Martin, will help boost the group's reputation in the global market. Although it already has Lotus, a super-running brand, its reputation is not as high as Aston Martin. After all, Aston Martin is not only a super-running brand but also a super-luxury brand.

At present, Geely Holding Group has five business segments, among which Geely Automobile Group includes Geely, Geometry Automobile, Linkages Automobile, Proton Automobile and Lotus Automobile, Volvo Automobile Group has Volvo Automobile and Polar Star Automobile, and is also the largest single shareholder of Daimler.

Although missing Aston Martin, Geely's name may also appear in the acquisition plans of more luxury car companies in the future. With more acquisitions to realize resource platform sharing, Geely's position in the global market will also be improved.

According to the latest sales data of Geely, the total sales volume in 2019 was 1,361,560 vehicles, down about 9% from the same period last year, just meeting the annual sales target. Despite this, Geely is currently the largest independent brand car enterprise in China.

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