Geely Holding Group acquired a 7.6% stake in British luxury automaker Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings, boosting the Chinese company’s stake in luxury and European brands.
Geely won’t get a board seat in the deal, but that didn’t seem to matter in the past. Geely, owner of Lotus and the largest shareholder of Polestar and Volvo Cars, took a 10% stake worth $9 billion in Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler in 2018. Geely also did not have a seat on the board, but managed to exert his influence over the company, including a joint venture with the German carmaker that gave partial control of the car brand Smart.
Geely Holding Group CEO Daniel Donghui Li said in a statement that the company’s established track record and technology offerings will contribute to Aston Martin’s future success.
Aston Martin or Geely have not provided any value of the transaction.
Aston Martin also announced that it has raised $732 million from investors including Mercedes-Benz and Saudi’s Public Investment Fund. Yew Tree Consortium owns 19% of Aston Martin after the raise. The Public Investment Fund has become a new anchor shareholder with an 18.7% stake in the company.
“I am pleased that we have successfully completed this transformational capital increase, which significantly strengthens our financial position and improves our path to sustainable positive cash flow,” said Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll in a statement. “Together with Amedeo and the leadership team, we are fully focused on unlocking the significant potential for shareholder value creation of this ultra-luxury British performance brand.”