Billionaire Lawrence Stroll’s £235 Million Venture Into Aston Martin

Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll leads consortium to purchase stake of Aston Martin Lagonda after difficult trading conditions leave the car maker with no other choice but to seek outside funding.

The British marque whose shares are currently trading around 70% lower than their IPO launch in 2018, has had a particularly tough time last year with current chairman Penny Hughes stating “The difficult trading performance in 2019 resulted in severe pressure on liquidity which has left the company with no alternative but to seek substantial additional equity financing. Without this the balance sheet is not robust enough to support the operations of the group.”

Billionaire Lawrence Stroll is confident however, that with the right investment and outside business acumen, the fortunes of Aston Martin can be turned around, saying “I believe that this combination of capital and my experience of both the motor industry and building highly successful global brands will mean that, over time, we fulfill Aston Martin Lagonda’s potential.”

Stroll, whose billions are largely attributed to early investments and subsequent business deals involving fashion brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors, has long been affiliated with the car world.

His involvement dates back to the 90’s with the sponsorship of the Lotus racing team via his fashion brands, while 2000 saw the (family) purchase of the entire Canadian Mont-Tremblant race circuit and by 2018 Stroll was instrumental in the purchase of distressed Formula 1 team Force India (later renamed Racing Point).

Not to mention his extensive collection of vintage Ferrari’s and rare cars.

It comes as little surprise that Stroll has now turned his attention towards the British marque in need of a helping hand, once again leading a consortium of international investors in the purchase 45.6 million newly issued shares at £4 (down from the IPO price of £19) to raise £182 million immediately, with further planned investment to bring their total equity investment to £235 million for a 20% stake in the company. 

Aston Martin themselves are also planning further capital raising with the hopes of bringing total funding to £500 million in order to improve liquidity and ensure production of the DBX SUV models at the newly established Welsh factory.

As part of the agreement, Lawrence Stroll will replace Penny Hughes as the Executive Chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda and will also be looking to expand Aston Martin’s presence in the Formula 1, rebranding his Formula 1 racing team “Racing Point” to “Aston Martin Lagonda” as of the 2021 race season.

Race fans will be relieved to know Aston Martin will continue to sponsor Red Bull Racing F1 team through to the end of the 2020 race season and hypercar owners encouraged to know that the technology partnership between Aston Martin Lagonda and Red Bull Advanced Technologies will remain in place at least until Valkeryie deliveries roll out later this year.

And for those waiting in anticipation for Aston Martin’s electric offerings…. unfortunately, you may have to wait a little longer as all further investments into electric vehicles have been put on ice until after 2025.