Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll says the British luxury-car maker needs no new funding “whatsoever” to compete with Ferrari and other elite brands.
“Our last capital raise was money to pay down our mezzanine debt, which we’re going to do very shortly,” Stroll said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday. “Otherwise, the company is fully funded.”
The decision to join Formula One racing has been a “transformative” marketing tool for Aston Martin and helped introduce the brand to a younger customer base, Stroll said, adding that order books have “never been stronger.”
Aston plans to enter the 24 Hour of Le Mans hypercar race in 2025 with a prototype of the Valkyrie, allowing it access to all forms of endurance racing.
The British manufacturer is in the middle of a turnaround under Stroll, who rescued the company in 2020 but has needed to raise funds several times since. The storied carmaker has had a long history of financial troubles and ownership changes.
Shares in Aston Martin jumped last week after Stroll’s Yew Tree Consortium lifted its stake to above 26%. Earlier on Wednesday, he said his group raised its bought shares after another major shareholder wanted to cut its holding.
“There was an opportunity — the initial investor wanted to sell a stake of his shares due to a change in management, I believe, in that firm,” Stroll said during an event at Aston Martin’s Formula One headquarters at Silverstone. “We saw this as a great opportunity to buy because I believe heavily in the future of AML.”
While Stroll declined to comment on the seller, Invesco Ltd. — Aston Martin’s third biggest investor — on Oct. 3 offloaded just under 1.9 million shares, or about 2.7% of its stake, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Stroll’s Yew Tree sold off some of its shares to Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. earlier this year, but then took part in a capital increase this summer. Existing shareholders, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Mercedes-Benz Group AG also participated in the move, which Stroll said would make it sustainably free-cash flow positive.
The company announced in June that it had agreed on an electric-vehicle technology tie-up with Lucid Group Inc., which is also backed by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.
--With assistance from Guy Johnson and Alix Steel.
(Updates with chairman’s comments to Bloomberg TV)
