In the “most disappointing year”, Geely, Ningde Times, and the Canadian rich were rumored to “buy” Aston Martin, a British century-old luxury car brand.
Editor’s note: This article comes from “ Future Car Daily ” (WeChat public account ID: auto-time), author: Jiaoman Ting.
Author | Jiao Manting
Edit | Xu Yang
After the acquisition of Volvo, Louis Motors and Daimler shares, Geely Automobile once again reported the marriage with the century-old luxury car brand.
Recently, the Financial Times revealed that according to informed sources, China’s Geely Automobile Holdings is negotiating with the management of British supercar manufacturer Aston Martin to acquire Aston Martin 19.9 % Equity.
Sources point out that the two parties have begun preliminary contact for a month and Geely Automobile has begun due diligence. Sources said Geely believes that the integration of Aston Martin with its private label Lotus could save money on technology and automotive platforms.
After the news came out, Aston Martin’s stock price soared 20%. As of the close of the day, its stock price was 4.78 pounds, closing 15.32%, and the market value was 10.71 pounds. Aston Martin’s listed stock price in October 2018 was 19 pounds, and its stock price has fallen by more than 70% in more than a year.
As for the news of the transaction, Aston Martin previously stated that it is still in discussion with potential strategic investors, which may or may not involve equity investment in the company. We will make further announcements in due course. Official statement. Geely’s European spokesman also declined to comment on the matter.
Aston Martin has a history of 107 years, and has gained worldwide renown for appearing in the James Bond series. But the popularity has not brought actual sales promotion to Aston Martin.
On January 7, 2020, according to Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer, the company sold 5,619 cars in 2019, a 7% decrease from 2018. He said Aston Martin had a “very disappointing year”.
Three quarterly reports show that Aston Martin lost 13.5 million pounds before tax in the third quarter of 2019, compared with a profit of 3.1 million pounds in the same period last year, and revenue fell year-on-year.11% to 250 million pounds. In addition, Aston Martin’s pre-tax loss in the first nine months of 2019 was 92.3 million pounds (about 834 million yuan), compared with a profit of 23.9 million pounds in the same period in 2018. The company blamed its poor performance on weak UK and European markets and sluggish demand for Vantage models.
This means that for Aston Martin, who is struggling with revenue and sales, seeking cooperation is a way to break through the cold winter of the market.
It’s not just the Geely family that favors Aston Martin.
In December 2019, Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroller was also revealed to be preparing for a large stake in Aston Martin. British Sky News reported that battery giant Ningde Times is also considering investing in a poor luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin. Ningde Times will provide it with the electrification technology needed for future models, but it is unclear Whether the two companies’ negotiations will reach a final agreement.
