4:00 pm, December 5, 2019
SHARES in Aston Martin have rocketed after reports that billionaire Lawrence Stroll is mulling a major investment in the luxury car maker.
The manufacturer’s shares jumped more than 17 per cent after Autocar magazine reported that the Canadian owner of Formula One team Racing Point was preparing to bid for a stake in the troubled company.
The car firm, which is best known for producing James Bond’s car of choice, has seen its share price tumble since its flotation more than a year ago.
Last month, the company swung to a £92.3m pre-tax loss for the past three quarters, while it warned on profits in July after it said it had too many unsold cars in dealerships.
Autocar and website RaceFans reported that Stroll, who is the father of Formula One driver Lance Stroll, is heading up a consortium bidding to take a ‘major shareholding’ in the car maker.
Aston Martin declined to comment on the reports.
Stroll is estimated to be worth around £2bn and made his fortune in investing and building up luxury goods brands such as Pierre Cardin and Ralph Lauren.
Both the Racing Point F1 team and Aston Martin have bases at Silverstone, although the car maker is primarily headquartered at Gaydon in Warwickshire.
Aston Martin’s faltering year has seen its shares slide by around 50 per cent since the start of 2019, which Autocar said had helped to pique interest in the car firm.
Shares in the company were up 17.3 per cent to 590p today.
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