Currently reading: Aston stake for sale
DAR looking to sell up to 20 per cent of British marque

Aston Martin owner DAR is to sell part of the iconic British marque. It is also seeking to borrow up to $1bn to refinance its debt.

The investment group has said it is considering offers for 10-20 per cent of the Aston brand. It bought half of Aston Martin in 2007. The company was previously owned by Ford.

"We are not considering selling and exiting," said DAR vice-president Amr Abou El-Seoud. He said that a "maximum 10 to 20 percent of the company" might be taken out of all investors. "There is a 60 to 70 percent chance that we will reach a deal soon."

Mercedes has been suggested as a potential stakeholder. There is already a link between the companies - the Kuwaiti Investment Authority owns a seven per cent stake in Daimler.

Back in February Adham Charonoglu, of DAR, said that Mercedes might collaborate with Aston on range of ventures, from engine development to entirely new models.

The seeds of this are in place. Mercedes is already planning to work with Aston on the next Maybach, as the company's small size allows for greater flexibility, lower bureaucracy and, hopefully, swifter development. This and Aston's new luxury saloon could both be based on the forthcoming W222 S-class platform.

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roadtester 17 December 2008

Re: Aston stake for sale

Daimler investment in Aston makes perfect sense.

  1. Whatever Aston's present financial position may be, the fact is that it has one of the best two or three brands in the automotive business.
  2. Assuming Aston needs an engine partner, Daimler is a much better long-term bet than Ford.
  3. Having worked with McLaren on F1 and the SLR, Daimler probably now understands the world-class strengths of the UK industry when it comes to developing and making high-tech low-volume vehicles.
  4. Even if Aston couldn't add much to Maybach in engineering terms, it may be able to give it the one thing which it entirely lacks - a bit of style.
  5. Aston is run by a German - he speaks their language!
Stevievsf 16 December 2008

Re: Aston stake for sale

With the worlds Govn'ts bailing out nearly every institution (except woolies pick n mix) I think the best thing for Gordon could do is to buy Aston, get Jaguar, Land-Rover and hey why not get back Rover, TVR, Jenson, Marcos and what the hell bloody reliant to and create a new BMC! They go on about big spending projects to create jobs etc. It this climate its not that a stupid idea! (and with that I'm off to bed!)

AndyRAC 16 December 2008

Re: Aston stake for sale

Something is up, there are rumours about Prodrive/Subaru as well. And they are all linked...