- Reports from the U.K. suggest Lawrence Stroll, owner of the Racing Point F1 team, is putting together a consortium to take control of Aston Martin.
- Meanwhile, Aston CEO Andy Palmer is counting on the new DBX to turn the company's fortunes around.
- Aston's stock price has fallen by more than two-thirds since an IPO last year; only a minority of its shares are on the open market.
When Aston Martin made an IPO in October 2018, the British sports-car maker's stock was floated at the equivalent of $22. By October this year, it was struggling to stay above $5.25. So the biggest surprise is probably that it has taken this long for a story about a potential takeover to appear.
But last week, Autocar in the U.K. ran a report saying that Lawrence Stroll, the Canadian who owns the Racing Point Formula 1 team, is planning to form a consortium to take a major stake in Aston Martin, with the ultimate ambition of rebranding Racing Point as Aston Martin. The news broke the day before the sports-car maker was set to open its new plant in Saint Athan, Wales, where the forthcoming DBX will be produced. So after the formal speeches were over and during an RAF fly-past, Car and Driver took the opportunity to ask Aston CEO Andy Palmer for his reaction to the report.
"It's a rumor," was his succinct response. "We're a public company. I can't speculate on rumors."
That wasn't a no, of course, with Palmer acknowledging that U.K. stock market rules meant that Aston management would be made aware of any attempt to buy a significant stake in the company. But he also made the point that anyone seeking to make big changes to Aston Martin's business would need a controlling stake in the company, which would be hard to achieve.
"We've got two large existing shareholders," he said, "one with 34 percent and one with, I think, 27 percent. So there isn't 50 percent of our share capital in 'free float.' "
Indeed, only a quarter of Aston's share capital was offered in the IPO, with little more than that percentage trading now. The stock price rallied after the Autocar story broke, closing at the equivalent of $8.27 on Friday evening, meaning it has become more expensive for anybody who does want to take a stake; outright control would mean persuading at least one of the large shareholders to relinquish control as well.
While not talking about the specifics of the report, Palmer did say that Aston Martin's current sponsorship deal with the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team runs until the end of next season, which would make it hard to form any kind of alliance with a rival Formula 1 team before then, let alone a full merger. Lawrence Stroll purchased what was the Force India F1 team in 2018, which was subsequently rebranded as Racing Point. His son, Lance, is one of the team's current drivers. A potential Aston Martin tie-up has been rumored since at least last spring.
Palmer was willing to talk about his frustration with the falling share price and his own hopes for turning the company around. "I suppose it's fair to say there was a significant part of the investment community that didn’t believe we could get here, and which doesn’t believe we can get to the launch of the [DBX] and delivery of the plan," Palmer said. "In consequence we've got quite a high short—which is looking at the short term and betting against us. That is frustrating, but the only way to deal with it is to deliver the car. Until I announce how many orders we've got and you see the factory spitting cars off the end of the line, you're going to continue to have people bet against you."
While unable to give detailed order information, Palmer said the company is happy with the high level of interest it had already seen it the DBX, ahead of launch next year. "We've got all of our U.S. dealers here for the factory opening," he said. "They are usually the most hard-nosed people in the community, but I've never seen them as happy as they are now."
When asked if he stands by previous statements about hoping to produce up to 5000 DBX SUVs a year, Palmer said, "I don't see any reason to change that prognosis."