Chinese car giant Geely has taken a 7.6 per cent share in Aston Martin Lagonda, helping to raise the £654 million the British firm said it needed earlier this year. Other shareholders in the shape of Mercedes-Benz, the Yew Tree Consortium and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund also contributed to the fund raising.
Geely already has control over a few car companies in Europe, either having stakes in or owning Volvo, Polestar, LEVC, Smart and Lotus. Aston Martin previously said that the money raised would be “used to meaningfully de-leverage the balance sheet, strengthen and accelerate long-term growth”.
Daniel Donghui Li, Geely Holding Group CEO said of the deal, “We look forward to exploring potential opportunities to engage and collaborate with Aston Martin as it continues to execute its strategy to achieve long term, sustainable growth and increased profitability.”
Further to the agreement, Chairman Lawrence Stroll’s Yew Tree Consortium has raised its stake to 19 per cent and the Public Investment Fund grew to 18.7 per cent. It is not known if Mercedes will change its amount of investment. Geely expressed interest in Aston Martin back in 2020, but the deal was quashed when Lawrence Stroll took over with a £500 million investment.
It’s not been revealed if Geely will provide Aston Martin with any parts of costs for developing cars. Mercedes already has a partnership in place for the supply of powertrains including internal-combustion engines, hybrids and even pure-electric units until 2027. However, components such as interior technology and safety systems may come from the Chinese brand in the future.
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