Stroll announce further investment in Aston Martin
British carmaker Aston Martin announced on Monday its plan to sell its minority stake in the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One team to help turn around its loss-making core business.
Last month, Aston Martin announced plans to cut 170 jobs, roughly 5% of its global workforce, after swinging to a loss in the fourth quarter.
As a result of its financial struggles, the British luxury carmaker has now announced that it will raise more than £125 million ($161.7 million) through funding from Chairman Lawrence Stroll’s investment.
In August 2018, Stroll led a consortium of investors in buying the assets of the defunct Force India Formula One team. The team was renamed Racing Point, and as a new team officially, they re-entered midway through the 2018 Formula One season and achieved 7th position in the Constructors' Championship.
For the 2019 season, the team name and entrant was changed once again to Racing Point F1 Team, with Stroll's son Lance driving one of the cars, finishing in 7th position in the Constructors' Championship once again.
On 31 January 2020, it was announced that Stroll led the Yew Tree Investments consortium to invest £182 million into Aston Martin, in return for a 16.7% stake in the company. Racing Point F1 Team was re-branded as the Aston Martin F1 Team in 2021.
Lance Stroll’s has now opted for a further investment, with his stake in the company poised to increase to roughly 33% from about 27.7% as part of the transaction.
In addition, Aston Martin has also confirmed that it intends to sell its minority investment in the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team to raise at least £74 million.
Speaking of the news, Aston Martin CEO Adrian Hallmark said: “This renewed support from Lawrence and his Yew Tree Consortium partners underlines their immense confidence in our team and the future of the Company.
“By strengthening the balance sheet, this investment provides additional headroom to support our future product innovation and business transformation activities, which combined, will accelerate our progress into being a sustainably profitable company,” he added.
Stroll said on Monday that he was pleased to underline his “unwavering support and commitment” to Aston Martin, following investments of around £600 million into the company since 2020.
“This proposed investment further underscores my conviction in this extraordinary brand, and commitment to ensuring Aston Martin has the strongest possible platform for creating long-term value while reducing equity dilution via this premium subscription, which should greatly reassure shareholders, as I again increase my long-term ownership in the Company,” Stroll concluded.
