How much time has Aston Martin bought with £653m?

A £1.2 BILLION-plus cash offer for bus and rail operator FirstGroup is likely to leave Robert Tchenguiz with a sour taste.

During the March 2020 stockmarket rout, the tycoon’s stockbrokers closed out his near £100 million punt on FirstGroup, sending the shares as low as 32p.

Since then his brokers have been chasing him for money they claim he owes on the investment in FirstGroup that went wrong.

Now gossips claim FirstGroup could soon be on the receiving end of a 150p-a-share cash bid from infrastructure investor I Squared Capital – and that the bid could be unveiled as early as next week because it has a ‘put up or shut up’ deadline.

If only the colourful tycoon had managed to keep hold of his £100 million bet on FirstGroup!

WILL £653million be enough to keep the wolves from Aston Martin’s door?

The Mail on Sunday revealed in January that the luxury car marque might have to ask share investors for fresh funds for a fourth time. But in response to that story, a spokesperson for Aston Martin said: ‘Aston Martin Lagonda has no requirement or plans to raise additional funds.’

Then in an about turn, Aston Martin said last week it wants to carry out a rights issue and placing totalling £653million backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Mercedes-Benz and Lawrence Stroll’s investment vehicle.

James Congdon, who runs the Quest research unit at broker Canaccord Genuity, said: ‘The quantum of money being raised this time means Aston Martin have bought themselves a bit of time, maybe two to three years. But it is still basically burning through cash and has a load of debt. If there is a real recession Aston Martin might have to raise money again in three years.’

THERE was a frisson of excitement around Ted Baker last week.

Rumours began to circulate around the ailing fashion brand that it might be close to concluding its sale process with a formal offer for the company.

Authentic Brands, the owner of Reebok, and USbased private equity firm Sycamore Partners have previously been reported to have given up their respective pursuits of Ted Baker.

Now, the talk is that a US-based private equity house has shown a strong interest in buying the company and may be close to tabling a formal offer at 130p a share.

Whether, though, that potential offer comes from Sycamore Partners or another American buy-out house remains to be seen.