Aston Martin shares jump as billionaire Lawrence Stroll ‘prepares to make offer’
Aston Martin shares have been given a much-needed boost this morning, after reports surfaced that billionaire Lawrence Stroll is gearing up to buy a major stake in the struggling car maker.
Stroll, the father of Formula 1 driver Lance and owner of the Racing Point F1 team, is said to be seeking to head a consortium which would try to take control of Aston Martin.
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This would enable them to take advantage of its low stock market value and disappointing sales, just as the car prepares to release its first ever SUV model, the DBX, onto the mass market next year.
Aston Martin declined to comment, but shares rose 18.5 per cent this morning, valuing them at just under 600p.
The car maker’s silence indicates that no formal offer has yet been made. As a listed company it would have to make an announcement should a takeover bid be tabled.
The news was first reported by Autotrader.
However, the rise in shares could herald the start of Aston’s recovery on the markets, after the car manufacturer suffered a precipitous fall in value since floating on the London Stock Exchange last year.
Shares hit the market at 1,900p, but still stand at less than a third of that value, after a year of disappointing sales driven by a global automotive slowdown and Brexit uncertainty.
It also comes a day after the trailer for next year’s James Bond film, No Time To Die, was released to the public.
The film is set to feature no less than four Aston Martins – the DB5 and V8 Saloon, along with the new DBS Superleggera and Valhalla.
Last month, chief executive Andy Palmer said: “A Bond movie is always a boost to us. It very very clearly helps us in places like China and the US.
“One of the things we need to do is improve the familiarity and awareness in the brand.”
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One of these features in the trailer, with Daniel Craig’s James Bond facing down a pack of gunmen from inside his armoured DB5, engaging its front-mounted machine guns and spinning the car in a screeching donut, taking out his enemies with a hail of gunfire.
It is unclear whether any upcoming Aston Martin models will feature front-mounted machine guns.