After one of the worst starts to life as a listed company, with the share price initially plummeting, there has been a complete change in fortunes for Aston Martin, with it being one of this year’s best performing stocks, up 75% year-to-date.
Chinese automotive group Geely has struck a deal to significantly increase its shareholding in Aston Martin, paying 335p per share for 70 million shares – a massive premium to last night’s 231.2p closing price.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould said: “That shows considerable interest in the business and suggests that Geely is serious about wanting to have more influence over how the iconic car maker is run, and how China could be a major market for the brand.
“Aston Martin has been targeting the Asian market for some time, knowing there is great appeal in the region for its products and British heritage in general. It has recently talked about China and Japan as being ‘rapidly expanding’ markets for luxury cars. Asia Pacific accounted for £353.5 million of the car maker’s revenue in 2022, equal to a quarter of group sales.
“The British group will no doubt have its eye on tapping into Geely’s connections to get the best price on components and to better understand how to market to the Chinese consumer. For Geely, it wants to dominate the automotive industry and owning a slice of Aston Martin is another step towards achieving its goal. It is also likely to work with Aston Martin to see if it can take any learnings away from how the British cars perform.”
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