AML bond sale - no, not 007...
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In today's FT - would you invest?
Aston Martin to launch £300m bond issue
By Anousha Sakoui and John Reed
Published: June 6 2011 22:32 | Last updated: June 6 2011 22:32
Aston Martin, the sports car producer majority owned by Kuwait’s Investment Dar, has launched plans to sell £300m of high-yield bonds, in its maiden offering.
The issue, which will largely refinance existing bank loans, comes on the heels of a debut bond issue by Jaguar Land Rover. Last month, the rival British luxury carmaker owned by India’s Tata Motors raised £1bn in its first bond sale.
The bonds are expected to be priced after an investor roadshow in the UK and continental Europe.
As at Jaguar, the issue for Aston Martin will “clean up” its capital structure, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction, who asked not to be named.
It will also redeem preference shares and pay a £40m dividend to shareholders.
Moody’s, the rating agency, assigned Aston Martin a provisional B2 rating with a stable outlook.
The carmaker on Monday said it had sold 4,184 cars in 2010, up from 4,000 in 2009, thanks to a broader product offering, including its Rapide four-door sports saloon.
According to accounts filed with Companies House, the carmaker reported a pre-tax profit of £6.9m last year, roughly unchanged from 2009, and revenues of £474.3m, up 36 per cent.
Aston Martin said it had a “clear strategy to deliver future growth built around product innovation and development, deepening penetration in existing markets and expanding into new markets”.
But the group faces challenges as it seeks to broaden its vehicle range and invest more in emission-cutting technologies to compete against bigger competitors such as Porsche.
Investment Dar led a consortium that bought Aston Martin from Ford Motor in 2007 in a deal worth £493m, before the financial crisis decimated luxury car sales and stretched the Kuwaiti group’s finances.
Investment Dar in February agreed a restructuring deal on its $3.7bn debt.
Aston Martin’s bond issue highlights a growing trend of smaller, private companies tapping bond markets for the first time, as an alternative to bank loans.
The bonds will have a seven-year maturity and be secured on company assets.
While the Jaguar sterling bonds are yielding about 8 per cent, Aston Martin is expected to have to pay a small premium to that because of its higher leverage and smaller size, according to the person briefed on the issue.
Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and UBS are running the bond sale.
Aston Martin to launch £300m bond issue
By Anousha Sakoui and John Reed
Published: June 6 2011 22:32 | Last updated: June 6 2011 22:32
Aston Martin, the sports car producer majority owned by Kuwait’s Investment Dar, has launched plans to sell £300m of high-yield bonds, in its maiden offering.
The issue, which will largely refinance existing bank loans, comes on the heels of a debut bond issue by Jaguar Land Rover. Last month, the rival British luxury carmaker owned by India’s Tata Motors raised £1bn in its first bond sale.
The bonds are expected to be priced after an investor roadshow in the UK and continental Europe.
As at Jaguar, the issue for Aston Martin will “clean up” its capital structure, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction, who asked not to be named.
It will also redeem preference shares and pay a £40m dividend to shareholders.
Moody’s, the rating agency, assigned Aston Martin a provisional B2 rating with a stable outlook.
The carmaker on Monday said it had sold 4,184 cars in 2010, up from 4,000 in 2009, thanks to a broader product offering, including its Rapide four-door sports saloon.
According to accounts filed with Companies House, the carmaker reported a pre-tax profit of £6.9m last year, roughly unchanged from 2009, and revenues of £474.3m, up 36 per cent.
Aston Martin said it had a “clear strategy to deliver future growth built around product innovation and development, deepening penetration in existing markets and expanding into new markets”.
But the group faces challenges as it seeks to broaden its vehicle range and invest more in emission-cutting technologies to compete against bigger competitors such as Porsche.
Investment Dar led a consortium that bought Aston Martin from Ford Motor in 2007 in a deal worth £493m, before the financial crisis decimated luxury car sales and stretched the Kuwaiti group’s finances.
Investment Dar in February agreed a restructuring deal on its $3.7bn debt.
Aston Martin’s bond issue highlights a growing trend of smaller, private companies tapping bond markets for the first time, as an alternative to bank loans.
The bonds will have a seven-year maturity and be secured on company assets.
While the Jaguar sterling bonds are yielding about 8 per cent, Aston Martin is expected to have to pay a small premium to that because of its higher leverage and smaller size, according to the person briefed on the issue.
Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and UBS are running the bond sale.
cuda said:
While the Jaguar sterling bonds are yielding about 8 per cent, Aston Martin is expected to have to pay a small premium to that because of its higher leverage and smaller size, according to the person briefed on the issue.
Last time I looked at the Bond Market, these rates would have been classed at 'Junk' level. With interest rates even lower now, this might still be the case 
Zod said:
Credit is simply more expensive.
Well, I sort of see that. The longest period of near zero base rates in history but credit is more expensive. Indeed banks are rebuilding balance sheets and not lending so firms are tapping the bond market directly. Beyond that though, and not seeking to get into a big debate on this, but I humbly suggest that "It will also redeem preference shares and pay a £40m dividend to shareholders." means that there is a wee bit of "financial engineering" going on here.
Cashing in the prefs is a typical tactic of VC/PE firms going to extract their finance in a market where they cannot IPO.
Oh, and a £40million dividend on a firm that turned a profit last year of less that £10million?
Yours!
JohnG1 said:
Zod said:
Credit is simply more expensive.
Well, I sort of see that. The longest period of near zero base rates in history but credit is more expensive. Indeed banks are rebuilding balance sheets and not lending so firms are tapping the bond market directly. Beyond that though, and not seeking to get into a big debate on this, but I humbly suggest that "It will also redeem preference shares and pay a £40m dividend to shareholders." means that there is a wee bit of "financial engineering" going on here.
Cashing in the prefs is a typical tactic of VC/PE firms going to extract their finance in a market where they cannot IPO.
Oh, and a £40million dividend on a firm that turned a profit last year of less that £10million?
Yours!
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cac...
Does anyone know if AML are going to jump into bed with Daimler-Benz?
Other alternative could be Toyota - the V10 from the LFA should not be allowed to go to waste...
Does anyone know if AML are going to jump into bed with Daimler-Benz?
Other alternative could be Toyota - the V10 from the LFA should not be allowed to go to waste...
JohnG1 said:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cac...
Does anyone know if AML are going to jump into bed with Daimler-Benz?
Other alternative could be Toyota - the V10 from the LFA should not be allowed to go to waste...
Today's news on it:-Does anyone know if AML are going to jump into bed with Daimler-Benz?
Other alternative could be Toyota - the V10 from the LFA should not be allowed to go to waste...
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/po...
Neil1300R said:
Today's news on it:-
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/po...
Please god NOOOOOOOO!http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/po...
Any alignment between Aston and Maybach has to be a really, really very truly bad thing.
The sooner the (getup)Myback dies the better IMHO. Truly vile.
Even the efforts of Mansory made it little, if any, worse.
And don't try to persuade me they look better in the flesh.... they don't.
Of course these are my opinions....
Not only that, it would surely negate all the great work they've done with the Cygnet to get average emissions down!
peterr96 said:
Neil1300R said:
Today's news on it:-
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/po...
Please god NOOOOOOOO!http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/po...
Any alignment between Aston and Maybach has to be a really, really very truly bad thing.
The sooner the (getup)Myback dies the better IMHO. Truly vile.
Even the efforts of Mansory made it little, if any, worse.
And don't try to persuade me they look better in the flesh.... they don't.
Of course these are my opinions....
Not only that, it would surely negate all the great work they've done with the Cygnet to get average emissions down!
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