10:17 am, September 20, 2018
ASTON MARTIN is aiming for a £5 billion valuation when its shares begin trading on the London Stock Exchange next month.
Best known for being James Bond’s vehicle of choice, the luxury carmaker has set a price range for its London listing of between £17.50 and £22.50 per ordinary share.
It means the carmaker will have a market capitalisation of between £4.02 billion and £5.07 billion.
Final pricing of the initial public offering (IPO) is expected to be announced on or around October 3, when shares are set to start conditional trading on the London Stock Exchange. Unconditional trading will begin around October 8.
Aston Martin confirmed that it was offering to float around 57 million shares, representing a quarter of the business.
Those shares will come from existing shareholders, including Investindustrial, Adeem Investments, Primewagon and senior management.
It said Daimler AG of Germany will remain a stakeholder and won’t sell down its holding at the IPO. Instead, the company will convert its current non-voting stake of 4.9 per cent to shares.
The IPO is being targeted at institutional investors as well as Aston Martin employees, customers and its Owners Club members in the UK.
Aston Martin president and group chief executive Andy Palmer said: ‘By becoming the only automotive company listed on the London Stock Exchange, Aston Martin Lagonda will provide investors with a fitting opportunity to participate in our future success.
‘Our Second Century Plan gives prospective investors deep insight into how we have executed our turnaround and how we are positioned for growth.’
He said the company’s turnaround over the past four years had had a ‘profound’ effect on the UK economy, having invested in manufacturing and engineering and creating thousands of jobs in the West Midlands and south Wales.
As reported by Car Dealer last month, Aston Martin confirmed that it was exploring plans to float on the London Stock Exchange, ending long-standing speculation about its plans to go public.
It later appointed former Royal Bank of Scotland director Penny Hughes as its new chairman, with plans for her to join the board after the carmaker’s IPO.
Former InterContinental Hotels Group chief executive Richard Solomons and ex-William Hill and Mothercare board member Imelda Walsh jumping on board with directorships.
The carmaker was founded in London in 1913 and is headquartered in Gaydon.
It has additional facilities in Wellesbourne, where it also produces its special-edition models, as well as in Newport Pagnell, where its heritage models are manufactured.
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