Shaken and Stirred the Makers of James Bond’s Favourite Car Need Funds

WHEN Aston Martin creators of luxury cars and favourites of James Bond launched on the UK stock market in 2018, shares were valued at £19 (€21.85) and now they are down to £2.97 (€3.42) and the company could go into liquidation.

Their hope of salvation lies with a shareholder meeting on March 16 which includes a Spanish investment company Torreal Venture Capital.

They are looking to raise a further £500 (€575) million and have a commitment from Canadian Formula 1 race owner Lawrence Stroll who will invest £182 (€209) million with the balance hopefully coming from existing Aston Martin shareholders.

The Spanish interest comes from Miguel Abelló who has just replaced his father Juan as executive president of Torreal and has removed the group’s investment from Prestige Motors and will be controlling the shares directly.

His commitment already exists to purchase shares to the value of £10 (€11.5) million and he is on record as wanting to keep Aston Martin alive and still building prestige cars.

Former partner in Prestige Motors, Italian Group Investindustrial has also signified its support for the sale of additional shares but there is even a potential knock on effect from the Coronavirus as currently China accounts for some 9 per cent of the vehicle manufacturer’s sales.

It would appear that with all of this support that Aston Martin will be saved in the immediate future but it is recognised that it needs to invest significant amounts in updating machinery and launching at least one new model.