RE: Aston bidding gets messy
Monday 5th February 2007
Bond's steer: Aston Martin DBSBidding for Aston Martin, which cash-strapped owner Ford is selling to raise a bit of wonga, is turning into a bit of a mess.
Aston bidding gets messy
Louis Vuitton rumours "absolute rubbish"
Bond's steer: Aston Martin DBS
Or at least, it is for LVMH, the French group that owns luggage brand Louis Vuitton among dozens of others. The company's huge, turns over some $14 billion, and was heavily tipped on some news sites last week as Aston's new owner.
The company has since rebutted the suggestion, saying that the rumour was "absolute rubbish", and that there was no truth in the story. LVMH said that it was involved in the bidding for AM at first but "didn't even get to first base".
According to Autocar, AM boss Ulrich Bez was also vocal about being none too keen about working under a company with zero automotive industry experience, which can't have done much for LVMH's chances.
So we'll wait for the winner of the bidding to be announced, which is due in about a month. And given that it's likely Ford will retain a stake in the company, it may not be the highest bid that wins, but the one that offers the company the best chance of survival.
Discussion
My bet is that all Ford's received are lowish bids, so what they're doing is trying to tickle up the interested parties. If someone has bid £x for 100% of Aston, and Ford think that's too low, one option is to say "For that price you can have 70% of the company and day to day management control, but you'll have to pay us more for the remaining 30% if future development of the company goes well".
It's jungle out there!
It's jungle out there!
5 USA said:
My bet is that all Ford's received are lowish bids, so what they're doing is trying to tickle up the interested parties. If someone has bid £x for 100% of Aston, and Ford think that's too low, one option is to say "For that price you can have 70% of the company and day to day management control, but you'll have to pay us more for the remaining 30% if future development of the company goes well".
It's jungle out there!
It's jungle out there!
I'm sure they also want to retain a percentage to ensure they can continue to supply components to Aston and maybe share new Technology.
It is kind of sad that we've found AM for sale again...it really bodes badly for the future. Another great British marque that has traded on it's name for too long maybe, but you can't deny that it's been very sucessful at actually prodcuing cars that people want to buy. I'm guessing that the Vantage hasn't sold in the required numbers and the DB9 is about right, whilst the Vantage was aimed at the 911 but has wound up taking on the Bently coupe....shame. Hey anyone got a few billion to spare?
Unfortunately distributors are yet again in the position of having lots of unsold cars for a number of reasons.....I know of one dealer who has 6 unsold AMV8's....early cars had lots of problems (paintwork, dumping engine oil, elec glitches etc), which has crucified the market. They have also made to many cars to quickly and so saturated the market....look how many cars are for sale verey week in the Sunday Times....Bentley has done the same with the Conti GT
nickfrog said:
KANEIT said:
TOYOTA. They have the power to do something useful with it.
What, on the strength of their F1 success ?
No, on the fact that they are or soon will be the largest multinational car producer in the world. And yes maybe Aston would improve their F1 situation.
Like F1 success makes any difference anyway!
I'm sort of in the mindset that Ford might be getting a bit pissed off with Bez. He's like the soon-to-be father in law who doesn't think any company is good enough for his daughter. Ford on the other hand are just keen on getting a whopping great dowry for a company that has been profitable about once in its no doubt esteemed history. In any case, the companies f(uh!)cked when the nouveau riche dry up.
Here's a thought... Sell it to NAC...
I'm now off to get my popularity award.
Ali.
Here's a thought... Sell it to NAC...
I'm now off to get my popularity award.
Ali.
Toyota are probably the richest car company out their in raw cash terms and could do alot with Aston but seriously doubt they have even thought about buying it. They tried to buy Volvo a couple of years back but Ford wouldnt sell, Toyota are interested in taking over Europe now they have America done but need a high Volume brand.
Leoparky said:
Alot of companies do this to raise cash....Pendragon the dealer group sold alot of the dealerships land and then leased it back. MG Rover did the same with the Longbridge plant.
Did Rover a lot of good and look at the state of pendragon in most areas, laying off staff left right and centre and dont have the cash to order new cars through some of their sites, its a very short term solution.
It is but perhaps highlights that selling cars is not the way to make money......Pendragon are very focussed on there property portfolio......horrible company though!!!. Does being in Formula 1 sell anymore cars?......might do when you are flogging 6 grands worth of Aygo, but 110 grands worth of DB9.......dunno need to be convinced.
Another name in the frame.
David Richards adds to the interest
David Richards is working on a deal to buy Aston Martin. The bid is in league with yet-to-be revealed financiers, including an Egyptian investment bank. Aston Martin is being auctioned off by Ford, despite the fact that it is profitable. The company is based in a purpose built facility at Gaydon in Warwickshire, which is close to Prodrive's current headquarters and to the company's planned new site at the former Honiley Airfield at Wroxall. This will include an advanced engineering research and development campus, a conference facility called the Catalyst Centre and a test track.
The big question is whether the bid is linked to Formula 1 or whether Richards has decided to sell his franchise in the sport to help raise money for the Aston Martin takeover. The Aston Martin company is one of the most prestigious sports car brands in the world and has a strong sporting heritage, dating back to the very start of the firm in 1913. The company sold 4500 cars in 2005 but suffered a sharp drop in 2006 because of the weak dollar and. The buyers, however, believe that the overall trend is upwards as new regions become automobile buyers in the years ahead. In this respect a Formula 1 project would be an obvious bonus for the company. The Prodrive company already has close links with Aston Martin and builds racing versions of the cars and has a deal to allow it to build and sell road-going versions for customers. The DBR9 sports car has enjoyed some success on the tracks and is aiming for more. The bid is beliveed to be worth around $900m.
Prodrive's plan - at least the one that has been announced - is to partner an existing F1 team. The team says it will announce some key appointments in the next couple of months. The team's factory will take about two years to build and the plan is to have car running in December.
At the same time there are rumours doing the rounds that Ron Dennis is on the verge of buying Prodrive so it will be interesting to see how all this works out.
GrandPrix.com said:
David Richards adds to the interest
David Richards is working on a deal to buy Aston Martin. The bid is in league with yet-to-be revealed financiers, including an Egyptian investment bank. Aston Martin is being auctioned off by Ford, despite the fact that it is profitable. The company is based in a purpose built facility at Gaydon in Warwickshire, which is close to Prodrive's current headquarters and to the company's planned new site at the former Honiley Airfield at Wroxall. This will include an advanced engineering research and development campus, a conference facility called the Catalyst Centre and a test track.
The big question is whether the bid is linked to Formula 1 or whether Richards has decided to sell his franchise in the sport to help raise money for the Aston Martin takeover. The Aston Martin company is one of the most prestigious sports car brands in the world and has a strong sporting heritage, dating back to the very start of the firm in 1913. The company sold 4500 cars in 2005 but suffered a sharp drop in 2006 because of the weak dollar and. The buyers, however, believe that the overall trend is upwards as new regions become automobile buyers in the years ahead. In this respect a Formula 1 project would be an obvious bonus for the company. The Prodrive company already has close links with Aston Martin and builds racing versions of the cars and has a deal to allow it to build and sell road-going versions for customers. The DBR9 sports car has enjoyed some success on the tracks and is aiming for more. The bid is beliveed to be worth around $900m.
Prodrive's plan - at least the one that has been announced - is to partner an existing F1 team. The team says it will announce some key appointments in the next couple of months. The team's factory will take about two years to build and the plan is to have car running in December.
At the same time there are rumours doing the rounds that Ron Dennis is on the verge of buying Prodrive so it will be interesting to see how all this works out.
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