China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd has committed to invest 234 million pounds (6.4 billion kronor) in British luxury carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda, becoming its third-largest shareholder. The announcement was made today by Aston Martin.
Yew Tree, owned by chairman Lawrence Stroll, is currently the luxury carmaker’s largest shareholder. The second largest shareholder is the Saudi Arabian investment fund PIF.
As part of the investment, Geely will acquire approximately 42 million shares from Yew Tree and subscribe for a further 28 million shares. With a 17 percent stake, it will be the third largest shareholder and will have one seat on the board.
What is Aston Martin famous for?
The Aston Martin car company was founded more than 100 years ago and its cars were made famous by, among others, the fictional secret agent James Bond. The investment paves the way for the carmaker to secure its future and reduce its net debt, which stood at £868.1m at the end of March. The carmaker has gone bankrupt seven times in its history.
Geely already owns Lotus and Volvo
Geely owns several brands, including British sports car maker Lotus, Chinese premium electric car maker Zeekr, Swedish carmaker Volvo, and also owns electric car maker Polesta through a joint venture with Volvo, Reuters pointed out.
British luxury carmaker Aston Martin’s operating loss widened 85 percent to 141.8 million pounds last year. It expects a significant improvement this year thanks to a new generation of sports cars.
Source: ČTK
