Aston Martin to raise £210m from investors as it battles to pay down debt pile

Aston Martin will tap investors for £210m in an effort to pay off its debt pile which is weighing on the luxury carmaker. 

Shareholders including Yew Tree, the investment vehicle owned by Aston Martin’s chairman Lawrence Stroll and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund have agreed to subscribe to around £115m of the share placing, with the remaining stock made available to institutional investors.

Aston Martin has launched a string of share placings in recent months as it battles to return to profitability.

Last week, the company said it had trimmed its half-year losses to £142m and was on track to reach its goal of selling £2bn cars a year earlier than planned. However, despite its earnings beating analyst expectations, Aston Martin left its full-year guidance unchanged.

In June, Mr Stroll said he wanted to quadruple Aston Martin’s profits within the next five years, while doubling its sales to £2.5bn during the same period. 

However, the carmaker has been hampered by its debt pile which crept up to £846m at the end of June from £766m in December as interest payments ramped up.

Aston Martin’s shares have more than tripled in value since an all-time low in November, meaning it will need to sell fewer of them to raise the needed cash. The company is worth almost £3bn.

Other major shareholders taking part in Aston Martin’s share placing include Chinese carmaker Geely and Mercedes-Benz.

Mr Stroll said he and his co-investors including JCB’s Lord Anthony Bamford and biotech billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli will buy up to £69m of any unsold shares.

Mr Stroll added: “From a position of strength, including our recently announced results and the tremendous demand we have seen for our new core and special models, this proposed transaction builds on the actions we have taken to deliver shareholder value. 

“The share offering will allow us to redeem our most expensive debt.”