Aston Martin expected to sell shares
Sports-car brand favoured by secret agent James Bond to seek listing in London
Aston Martin, the maker of the famed sports car favoured by secret agent 007, is expected to announce as early as Wednesday plans for a stock-market listing later this year that would value the company at more than $6 billion, according to people familiar with the situation.
The iconic British sports-car brand intends to list about £1 billion ($1.29 billion US) of shares on the London Stock Exchange, the people said.
The Aston Martin listing would be the first offering of a popular sports-car brand since Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV sold roughly 9 per cent of Ferrari at an offering price of $52 US in
October 2015. Ferrari’s shares were trading at $129.39 US on the New York Stock Exchange at midday Tuesday.
One of the most colourful and well-known brands among
sports-car aficionados, Aston Martin was known to a wider audience as the ride of choice in James Bond movies, including the 1960s films “Goldfinger” and “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” and the latest Bond sequel, “Spectre.”
In “Spectre,” Bond hijacks a modern Aston Martin DB10 model intended for another agent. The movie version of the silver racer, an updated version of the original DB5 that appeared in “Goldfinger,” is equipped with features any secret agent would desire — a rear-facing, twin-barreled gun and flame-thrower, as well as the obligatory ejection seat with parachute. In true Bond fashion, 007 drives the car off the road straight into the Tiber River at the end of a high-speed chase, where it sinks.
Existing shareholders at Aston Martin, mainly Italian and Kuwaiti investors, will be hoping that some of 007’s mojo will rub off on the shares. The company is aiming to generate as much as £5 billion through the offering, the people familiar with the matter said, reflecting the top end of the offer’s expected price range.
In May, the company reported a 3 per cent increase in firstquarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to £43.7 million on sales revenue of £185.4 million.
This spring, Aston Martin launched the Vantage, a sporty rival to the Porsche 911, that sells for about £160,000 in the U.K. Aston Martin has also entered the race to create fully electric luxury sport-utility vehicles, unveiling plans in May to build a superluxury electric SUV under its new Lagonda brand that is expected to be available in 2021.
Sky News earlier reported Aston Martin’s plans for an IPO.