Wednesday 6th September 2006

Aston boss to buy the company?

Dr. Bez set to lead buy-out group

---

The DB7: Ford's first Aston Martin

Things are moving fast at Ford -- and at Aston Martin.

Rumours are washing around that Aston Martin's chief executive Dr. Ulrich Bez, who's been responsible for the resurgence of the marque in recent years, is planning a management buy-out. That's according to senior sources at Ford, anyway. Bez wouldn't comment on his interest in the matter.

But there are likely to be others, according to industry analysts. These include the possibility of a bid from ex-Ford boss Jac Nasser via an equity firm, and a Russian oligarch "eager to capture a trophy asset", according to the Times.

Ford hopes to get a whopping $2 billion from the sale, although analysts reckons that's way too high.

It follows the announcement last week that Ford is putting Aston Martin up for sale as part of its attempt to get out of the financial mire in which it sits as a result of a number of factors -- such as high oil prices, and an over-dependence on US buyers continuing to buy huge SUVs and pickups. Plus, it's been propping up loss-making Jaguar for years, a luxury some suggest it can no longer afford.

That's one of the reasons why the top job at Ford has just gone to a man from Boeing. Alan Mulally, head of Boeing’s commercial aircraft division, was appointed late yesterday in place of Bill Ford, a great-grandson of founder Henry Ford, who moves to the back benches as executive chairman. Mulally is reckoned to have resolved the production problems that Boeing suffered at the end of the 1990s and executed the company’s so-called "lean manufacturing" strategy.

Ford reported a loss of $1.3 billion in the first half of 2006, and its market share has fallen over the years from 25 per cent in 1995 to 16 per cent in August 2006.

• Related story: Ford will sell Aston Martin

[hendry]

Bez knows his onions and has a great CV. I am quite sure that any of the other bidders for Aston would do all they could to retain him, so we may find him having a substantial interest but the money coming from elsewhere.

[TUS 373]

I remember Bez from Happy Mondays. He did not doo much other than dance with maracas IIRC.

[Twin Turbo]

I really hope Bez either leads the buy-out, or at least stays on as under his leadership, Aston have gone from strength to strength.

But $2billion? Who are Ford kidding. I'd have thought a coupla hundred million quid tops.

[scotty_917]

TUS 373 said:

I remember Bez from Happy Mondays. He did not doo much other than dance with maracas IIRC.

I think uncle Ulrich's time at Porsche gave him a good understanding of what's required by the buyer's of a prestige marque....(he keeps a 993 in the front room of his house!) Astons improvement in design, production and chassis dynamics have been largely due to his outstanding influence. He will undoubtedly be kept on if he either heads up a consortium or someone else buy's the company. DB would be pround of his achievements in such a short space of time. The 'new' Wendalin Wiedking?

[v12Aston]

I would agree that he and his team have done an outstanding job over the past 5 years. However I would suggest that like many companies that go through such a renaissence in a similar time-frame - Aston Martin might be more than ready for an injection of fresh blood.

The market for these cars has changed dramatically and waits for no marque - I think that whoever buys AM will have Bez keep a steady hand on the tiller for the first 6 months then replace him.

I am sure he deserves his retirement!

[Stu_00]

"(he keeps a 993 in the front room of his house!)"

Good Man ! Hope it's got some good coffee cup holders !

Edited by Stu_00 on Wednesday 6th September 12:34

[FestivAli]

Jac Nasser as a potential buyer!? I bet he's been bored since losing the helm of Ford a few years back. Same sentiments as the rest of you regarding Bez; the guy seems to have a genuine affection for the marque (as you or I probably would If we were head of AM) its good to see he wants in.

Ali.

[wab172uk]

Aston Martin needs to be under a "Big" manufacturers wing with Dr. Bez at the helm, as investment needs to be continuous. Losing sustained investment would mean NO new cars in the future, as development cost would be to high for a private company. Future cars to be built on old Platforms, etc, etc.

BMW or VAG need to buy Aston to enable it to go from strength to strength. Quite why Ford are selling Aston (now making money) is beyond me. Sell Jaguar first, as they are losing money.

No wonder Ford are in the poo regarding cash flow.

[Pickled Piper]

I can see a takeover by Nasser and his team that leaves Bez in charge. I am pleased to hear that Bez has a 993 in his front room. I keep mine on the driveway (can't get it through the front door).

pp

[grant3]

Ulrich Bez, gets my vote, he's driven, knowledgeable, motivational, enthusiastic & a car nut.
Go get em Uli, just don't pay over the odds!

[sprinter885]

scotty_917 said:

The 'new' Wendalin Wiedking?

Sounds rude to me....
In order of preference 1. Herr Dr U. Bez
2. Nasser-(the lively boxer??)with 1. at the helm
10. Another rich Muscovite

[JEBLondon]

The Russian oligarch in question is Oleg Deripaska.

[scotty_917]

sprinter885 said:

scotty_917 said:

The 'new' Wendlin Wiedking?

Sounds rude to me....
In order of preference 1. Herr Dr U. Bez
2. Nasser-(the lively boxer??)with 1. at the helm
10. Another rich Muscovite

WW...the man who's been at the helm of Porsche these last 13 or so years...and seen it become the most profitable car maker bar none!

[wheeljack888]

Nasser can off!

Anyone who buys Kwik Fit for £1bn CASH (which then can only be sold for a third of that) is either a complete retard or corrupt as hell.

I would like Bez to stay in charge, not only because of his track record and petrolhead credentials, but because he is an ENGINEER. Only an engineer can really understand BOTH what is required from the product and what it actually takes to acheive it.

Don't want Porsche or BMW to takeover (IMHO it is very unlikely they will anyway) as they will put their own engines in and therefore remove some of the in-house engineering content. Also if only for marketing reasons bring engine assembly back to blighty, there must be 'slight' logistical benefits aswell.

For the medium-term Aston doesn't need major investment as the chassis's and engines are fundamentally good enough and only need subtle evolution to keep up, nor do they need to increase production volumes. For the long term AML will need access to the kind of technology a big-player has and preferably Ford could retain a minority stake and maintain a technical alliance.

[DJC]

Bez is the right guy for me. He strikes me as one of those peculiar Germans you get who understands "Britishness" almost more than the regular Brits do. Throw in the excellent businessman, very competent engineer and being a petrolhead and he is just the chap.

A cpl of side notes...how many flaming Russian oligarchs are there? There cant be *that* many blokes who made £billions out of Russia in the 90s, the place was meant to be bankrupt! Alan M at Ford...now that is going to be interesting, there will be some serious blood on the walls once he gets going. Know him well from Boeing, fearsome operator, cost cutter extraordinaire and to the best of my knowledge has never lost a fight with the Unions. Expect Ford to shed between 30-50,000 jobs over the next Ford business cycle. Ford Europe will be hit hard.

[wheeljack888]

DJC said:

Bez is the right guy for me. He strikes me as one of those peculiar Germans you get who understands "Britishness" almost more than the regular Brits do. Throw in the excellent businessman, very competent engineer and being a petrolhead and he is just the chap.

From working and studying with quite a few germans, I think that we are more alike than either side would like to admit!

DJC said:

Alan M at Ford...now that is going to be interesting, there will be some serious blood on the walls once he gets going. Know him well from Boeing, fearsome operator, cost cutter extraordinaire and to the best of my knowledge has never lost a fight with the Unions. Expect Ford to shed between 30-50,000 jobs over the next Ford business cycle. Ford Europe will be hit hard.

At first I thought why the hell are they appointing an ex-Leics bowler.....

Yes it should be interesting, I like the fact he is an engineer, apparently very data driven and takes no bullshit. Also despite his fearsome reputation and history for corporate blood-letting he still maintained a good (or at least very respected) relationship with the aero-unions. I know that generally on this site most people's opinion of unions are more severe than Maggie herself, an attitude I think is far too obtuse and one-dimensional, but they represent the employees (most of which are not complete retards), are a known quantity, and most usefully a single-point of contact. I do expect to see serious cuts in NA and hopefully curtailing unnecessary bureaucratic bullshit. Ford Europe has been through all of this over the last decade (shutting plants, merging R&D, improving quality, etc) and at the moment the plants are at full capacity and pretty damn efficient, and R&D has got loads of work on. Profits could be higher but that is the price for selling cars like the Focus, which (because of the level of engineering content) is like selling an Audi A3 for Peugeot 307 money. However it will affect us somehow.

Edited by wheeljack888 on Thursday 7th September 22:47

[Relaxed]

For me as a german it is quite nice to read a bit of admiration for Ulrich Bez. It was a crying shame that Bez was "guided" out of Porsche and it is, at least in my view, a bit of retaliation from his side to bring up AM to the level (or at least the same group) of (as) Porsche. I think he is a very ambitious guy (which I LOVE!) and wants things to happen quickly, the major milestones on a road to success. It would be really terrible to lose that man at a stage like this, as AM is just recovering from a TECHNICALLY rather weak company to one that tries to bring technical value to the (undisputedly) lovely looks. Wishing You luck, Aston Martin !

Cheers,
Frank

[ahaughton]

wheeljack888 said:

Nasser can off!

Anyone who buys Kwik Fit for £1bn CASH (which then can only be sold for a third of that) is either a complete retard or corrupt as hell.

I remember being at Ford with Nasser in charge and it was farcical. He had a birth-to-grave concept whereby he wanted to own everything from the companies who made the body panels, to the consumable companies (hence Kwik Fit) and then scrap metal dealers when the cars finally ran out of steam.... He should have stuck to what he knew which was, well not quite sure what that was, but needless to say he wasn't missed when he went..... Incidentally I think I'm right in saying Kwik Fit was sold back to the same people he/Ford bought it from only a few years earlier - what an arse.....

Edited by ahaughton on Friday 8th September 15:34

[DJC]

Ian Campbell said:

Well the race is on who's going to own Aston Martin, UBS bankers are at Ford next week and Ford are holding out for around $500 million dollars for the marque, (Well I got 50p)that's a joke), among the potential buyers are German sports car maker Porsche AG and now LMVH Moet Hennesey Louis Vuitton, one of the largest luxury goods conglomerate.
Well it was on the cards for years anyone who has a ford pin no and has had the opportunity to go the the Henry Ford college at loughborogh would have noticed it. When you look at the relevant website www.fordcollege.ac.uk/ you see the Land Rover, Jaguar, Volvo, Mazda and Ford bages/logos, but no Flagship Aston Martin, I queried this some time back and was told, it will disapear from the PAG (Premier Automotive Group)and be sold.

Yes Ford are upset that Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin sales are down, (last year Aston Martin sold 4500), whereas Ford, Volvo and Mazda registrations are on the increase.

I just hope Aston Martin does not get sold low and bought by individuals more interested in executive pensions than sales or engineering.

[e-mail] (Ford pin A0090.)

Edited by Ian Campbell on Saturday 9th September 18:10

Astons sales on the down? Astons sales are on the up! Aston selling 4500 units is serious champers territory, David Brown's celestial skeleton will be dancing jigs of joy on a DBR1's bonnet at that sort of news!

I wouldnt be *that* suprised if the top 3 runners are Bez, Louis Vuitton and Bamford. If he thought Jag would be a good idea, he'll sure as hell think Aston are and Bamf is *exactly* the sort of guy who identifies with Aston.

My bet is that it will turn out to be between Bez and JCB.

[Podie]

Ian Campbell said:

(Ford pin A0090.)

What's a Ford pin..?