Investindustrial, the Italian firm that was in a title bid with Mahindra & Mahindra for Aston Martin has inked a deal with The Investment Dar to purchase a 37.5 per stake in the British supercar maker. The British firm will invest 150 million GBP in the form of capital increase.
Aston Martin has said the deal, which is expected to be cleared by Q1 of 2013, will give it a value of 780 million GBP, compared to 630 million GBP prior to the agreement. It will also give Investindustrial proportional voting rights. However, contrary to speculation, Investindustrial has said that no technical agreement had been made with Mercedes-Benz with regard to the deal.
The deal fell in favour of Investindustrial after Mahindra withdrew from the bidding race due to it wanting a bigger role in the company than just being an investor. It will give Aston Martin a huge inflow of cash that it requires to continue research and development of newer models and to keep the company afloat.
Investindustrial is a company well known in the motoring circles for turning around the fortunes of the Ducati motorcycle company which it bought in 2005. It recently sold the iconic Italian bike maker to Volkswagen (via Lamborghini) for 602 million GBP.
Commenting on the investment, Aston Martin Chairman David Richards said, “Investindustrial’s new investment reflects and sustains the unique position of Aston Martin within the industry.”
