Kuwaiti investors bid $925 million 4 aston martin

Kuwaiti investors bid $925 million for sports car maker

By BOB GRITZINGER AND JULIAN RENDELL

AutoWeek | Published 03/12/07, 1:31 pm et

Rumors of the impending sale of Ford-owned Aston Martin ran rampant at the Geneva motor show; the deal was consummated today, March 12, at Aston Martin headquarters in the United Kingdom.

The sale, pegged at $925 million, was to a consortium comprised of Prodrive founder and chairman David Richards; John Sinders, an Aston Martin collector and backer of Aston Martin Racing; and Kuwait-based Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co.

Current Aston CEO Ulrich Bez will stay on in that position; Richards will be the company chairman, and Sinders will take over as head of Aston Martin’s North American operations.

Sinders, an investment banker from Houston, Texas, owns eight Aston Martins and is a principal investor in the American DBRS racing team. Although Sinders has a smaller stake in the deal, he apparently spearheaded the purchase, first by approaching Richards and then convincing the Kuwaiti investors to back the bid.

Ford had been shopping its boutique sports car maker since August 2006 in an effort to obtain much-needed cash for core Ford operations. The sale of Aston will close by mid-year, with Ford retaining a $77 million investment in the company.

At a press conference announcing the transaction, the new owners assured that the investment group backs Aston’s long-range product plans, including building the four-door Aston Martin Rapide by the end of decade. The company plans to produce up to 2000 Rapides per year.

In addition, a product pyramid revealed a future flagship dubbed DBX positioned above the Rapide. Although the car may be a Vanquish replacement, it also may be a super-flagship above the Vanquish and not currently in the Aston portfolio. Richards said Aston might want a car in the mold of the Audi R8, suggesting the builder of front-engined sports cars may break tradition and offer a mid-engined model.

Despite Prodrive’s strong background in all-wheel drive, the new owners said that no sport/utility vehicles—or even awd products—are in the Aston pipeline.