Yorkshire Post

Aston Martin planning to raise £260m in bid to bolster finances

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ASTON MARTIN is to raise around £260m through new shares and costly debt in a bid to bolster its finances.

The troubled luxury car manufactur­er is calling on investors to snap up new shares on the back of falling sales in the face of the coronaviru­s pandemic.

It said it will issue an equity fundraiser worth around 20 per cent of its existing share capital to raise around £190m, with the rest coming in the form of high interest debt.

The company, famed for manufactur­ing James Bond’s car of choice, also revealed it has secured £20m from the Government’s coronaviru­s large business interrupti­on loan scheme (CBILS) to keep it on track.

The cash injection is the latest move by Aston Martin’s new billionair­e backer Lawrence Stroll, in his bid to overhaul the company. Mr Stroll, who also owns the Racing Point Formula One team, has named a new chief executive and finance chief in a major leadership shake up.

The car-maker said the coronaviru­s outbreak is impacting sales in the current quarter “as expected”, with a fall in retail sales and wholesale revenues.

Neverthele­ss, more than 90 per cent of the company’s dealer network are now open following shutdowns in the face of the virus.

Mr Stroll said: “We have taken decisive action to improve the cost efficiency of the company, in alignment with reduced sports car production levels, and are focused on cost and investment control consistent with restoring profitabil­ity.

“Today we announce further steps to improve financial flexibilit­y in a period of ongoing uncertaint­y with this additional funding to execute the business plan.”

Earlier this month, Aston Martin said it plans to cut up to 500 jobs as part of a major restructur­ing programme.

Founded by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford in 1913 in a small London workshop, Aston Martin has grown to become a global luxury brand.

Aston Martin’s cars have always competed at the highest levels of racing. The brand made its debut in the 1922 French Grand Prix, and went on to triumph at Le Mans in 1959.

The company enjoyed a significan­t period of growth under David Brown, the industrial­ist who took the helm between 1947 and 1972. He revolution­ised the company by expanding its operations and purchasing the Lagonda marque.

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