Geely invests £234 million in Aston Martin shares to support brand revival
Geely has become Aston Martin’s third largest shareholder as the British firm approaches a new era of more advanced, re-engineered models
Geely’s presence in the European car market is continuously expanding; the Chinese firm behind Lotus, Polestar and Volvo has a knack for nurturing stagnant brands to success, and Aston Martin is next in line. By investing £234 million in shares, Geely has gained 17 per cent ownership of the brand, becoming Aston Martin’s third largest shareholder.
The announcement comes as Aston Martin embarks on a new era of more advanced and luxurious GTs, SUVs and supercars under executive chairman Lawrence Stroll. The first of these new models will be the DB12, which will launch next week with radical engineering and interior upgrades over the existing DB11.
The Lawrence Stroll-led Yew Tree Consortium continues to hold the largest stake in Aston Martin at 21 per cent, sitting above the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia which owns 18 per cent of the firm. To increase its ownership to 17 per cent, Geely has acquired shares from the Yew Tree Consortium along with new shares, the latter of which will provide Aston Martin with a £95 million cash injection.
As part of its investment, Geely has the right to appoint a non-executive director to represent it among Aston Martin’s board of directors, but an agreement has been struck to cap its shareholding at 22 per cent until August 2024. Until the same date, Lawrence Stroll’s firm cannot exceed 25 per cent ownership.
‘This announcement is a further significant step towards delivering our ambition for Aston Martin,’ said Stroll. ‘Geely Holding, who initially became a shareholder last year, sees tremendous potential for Aston Martin's long-term growth and success.
‘They offer us a deep understanding of the key strategic growth market that China represents, as well as the opportunity to access their range of technologies and components. We remain on track to deliver our strategic objectives and starting this month we will bring to market our new portfolio of game-changing sports cars.’
