Aston Martin plans to raise £210 million ($270 million) by selling new shares as the British luxury-car maker looks to pay back high-interest debt and raise funds for its electrification strategy.
Major shareholders including Chairman Lawrence Stroll’s Yew Tree consortium, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Geely International and Mercedes-Benz Group have agreed to subscribe to around £115 million of the placement, Aston Martin said Monday. The remaining stock will be made available to institutional investors.
“The share offering will allow us to redeem our most expensive debt, accelerate the pathway we have been on to deleverage our balance sheet and become sustainably free cash flow positive,” Stroll said in a statement.
Aston Martin has been working to return to profit in a turnaround effort that has resulted in multiple capital raises. The company last week reported second-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations, but left its full-year guidance unchanged.
Last month, Aston Martin said it had agreed an electric vehicle technology tie-up with Lucid Group, which is also backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Aston Martin’s longstanding financial woes have made it increasingly reliant on partners for technology that other automakers consider core to their products.