Mahindra to buy half of Aston Martin?

afako

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MILAN/MUMBAI: Aston Martin stands at the centre of an international takeover battle after Indian motors group Mahindra trumped an Italian bid for half of the British luxury car maker.

Italian private equity fund Invest industrial reached an agreement on Thursday with the owner, Kuwaiti investment house Investment Dar, but Mahindra and Mahindra made a higher offer on Friday
, leaving the fate of the 98-year old icon of British motor engineering hanging in the balance, sources familiar with the discussions said.

Aston Martin makes the cars immortalized by James Bond films down the decades in Gaydon, Warwickshire, the heartland of England's early 20th century motor manufacturing heyday.

The company was sold in 2007 by U.S.-based Ford Motor Co. for 479 million pounds ($767 million), to Kuwait's Investment Dar and another Kuwait fund, Adeem Investment Co.

The consortium was fronted by David Richards -- former Formula 1 Benetton and BAR racing boss, who remains chairman.

Aston Martin sells approaching 15 percent of its DB9, Vanquish and other models in Asia. Wealthy Chinese buyers snapped up 110 cars in 2010 and sales are expected to have multiplied five-fold to over 500 this year.

"Talks are continuing through the weekend," said one source, who said Investindustrial had bid between 200 million and 250 million pounds ($400 million) for the stake, and is confident of winning the race because it sees its proposal as "technically" superior, including a technical partnership deal with Daimler AG's Mercedes.

The same source said manufacturing would stay at Gaydon under the Italian proposal.

A spokesman for Investment Dar, which went to the market for a $1 billion debt restructuring last year, was not immediately available for comment, nor could Mahindra be reached for comment. Investindustrial declined comment.

Investindustrial, owned by Italy's Bonomi family, is not new to luxury motor brands. In 2006, it bought Italian motorcycle maker Ducati and sold it for about 860 million euros last April to Volkswagen's Audi division.

Mahindra is the world number one tractor maker. It also makes more sport utlitiy vehicles than any other Indian motor manufacturer, and controls South Korean car maker Ssangyong Motor Co Ltd.

A second source familiar with the process said Mahindra was keen to access the Aston Martin technology to upgrade its existing vehicle platform.

Another Indian motor company, Tata Motor, owns British luxury manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, and has had even more success than Aston Martin in China, now Jaguar Land Rover's biggest market.

Aston Martin at centre of bid war after Mahindra & Mahindra offer - The Economic Times
 

afako

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Re: Mahindra in a Bidding War with Italian Consotorium for Aston Marti

Paki Type Musings from UK:

If the UK hadn't given India all the foreign aid, they could then have invested in Aston Martin but not our totally incompetent government. Not a brain among the whole lot of them!
 

SpArK

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Not selling stake in Aston Martin, says Investment Dar Co



Company was reacting to news that M&M has bid for a 50% stake in the company


Kuwaiti firm The Investment Dar Company (TID), owners of British automaker Aston Martin, today said it is not selling its stake in the luxury sports car firm.:fu:

Reacting to the news that the company received two bids, including from Mahindra & Mahindra, for a 50% stake in Aston Martin, a spokesperson of TID said the reports published in some media "are inaccurate and have no truth in it"
.

According to reports, Italian private equity fund Investindustrial have made an offer of nearly 250 million pounds for Aston Martin and M&M have even made a higher offer.

While insisting that the company does "not comment on any news speculation", the spokseperson cited an interview given by TID Chairman Adnan Almusallam to a local daily, Al Watan reiterating that TID was "not negotiating the sale of its stake in Aston Martin".

Earlier on November 12, TID had also issued a statement denying reports of its stake sale in the famed British carmaker known for cameos in James Bond movies, saying it "has a long-term plan and commitment with Aston Martin and has no plans to sell its stake in Aston Martin in the short-term."

A spokesperson for M&M declined to comment saying the group does not comment on speculation.


Investindustrial could not be reached for comments.

Aston Martin had opened its first showroom in India in Mumbai last year and added another one in Delhi earlier this year selling select models, including V12 Vantage, Vantage S, V8 Vantage Coupe, V8 Vantage Roadster, DB9 Coupe, DB9 Volante, DBS Coupe and Rapide.


Not selling stake in Aston Martin, says Investment Dar Co
 

Singh

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Tata should buy Aston Martin. And buy a stake in Bentley, and Rolls Royce too or unleash the Daimler Marque. It would be awesome if all British Marques are with one management, who cares about them.
 

Blackwater

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Re: Mahindra in a Bidding War with Italian Consotorium for Aston Marti

Paki Type Musings from UK:
If the UK hadn't given India all the foreign aid, they could then have invested in Aston Martin but not our totally incompetent government. Not a brain among the whole lot of them!

:taunt::taunt::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 

Bangalorean

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Re: Mahindra in a Bidding War with Italian Consotorium for Aston Marti

Paki Type Musings from UK:
If the UK hadn't given India all the foreign aid, they could then have invested in Aston Martin but not our totally incompetent government. Not a brain among the whole lot of them!
This silly Brit whining gets worse and worse everyday. :rage:

You said it right. Paki type whining.
 

Singh

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Tata should buy Aston Martin. And buy a stake in Bentley, and Rolls Royce too or unleash the Daimler Marque. It would be awesome if all British Marques are with one management, who cares about them.
Ohh, and also buy a stake in McLaren.

Aston Martin - GT cars
McLaren - sportscars
Daimler/RR/Bentley - ultra luxury cars
Range Rover - SUVs
Jaguar - Luxury Cars

Winning combo.
 

pmaitra

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Tata should buy Aston Martin. And buy a stake in Bentley, and Rolls Royce too or unleash the Daimler Marque. It would be awesome if all British Marques are with one management, who cares about them.
Imagine Tata buys all those brands, rips all the technology, incorporates them in Tata Motors, and simply kills those brands?

I don't want that, but the possibility did not escape my mind.

:troll:
 

W.G.Ewald

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Tata should buy Aston Martin. And buy a stake in Bentley, and Rolls Royce too or unleash the Daimler Marque. It would be awesome if all British Marques are with one management, who cares about them.
To paraphrase the Hitler Jugend songbook:

Wir Werden weiter marschieren
Wenn alles in Scherben fält
Denn heute gëhort uns Aston Martin
Und morgen die ganze Welt.
:thumb:
 
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