Lawrence Stroll has paid £182 million for a 16.7% stake in Aston Martin in a bid to revamp the firms future, meaning that Racing Point F1 Team will become the Aston Martin F1 team.
The deal that was revealed last month by Autocar, was confirmed this morning with London Stock exchange and includes a £318 million cash infusion through a new rights issue which will give Aston Martin a £500 million gain.
In addition, the Racing Point F1 team currently owned by Stroll will be re-branded as the Aston Martin F1 team from 2021 under the terms of the new deal.
Stroll was the first to the deal over Chinese car maker Geeley, the owner of Lotus and Volvo, with the deal being agreed at a board meeting last night. To secure the stake, Yew Tree Overseas Limited will buy 45.6 million new ordinary shares in Aston Martin Lagonda at £4 per share.
The £500 million investment will include £55.5 million of short term funding from Stroll which will improve the liquidity of the company and will be refunded when the full share placing is finalised.
Stroll will join the Aston Martin board, as part of the investment, as an executive chairman and gains the right to appoint a second chairman.
In a statement, Aston Martin Lagonda said the move would ‘strengthen it’s balance sheet to necessarily and immediately improve liquidity and reduce leverage’.
Aston Martin’s current title sponsorship with Red Bull, believe to be worth around 20 million, will end after this season. Racing Point has agreed on a 5-year sponsorship deal with Aston Martin beginning in 2021.
The Red Bull Racing F1 Team released a statement this morning which confirmed they will release Aston Martin from it’s ‘F1 exclusivity clause which in turn has allowed it to generate the necessary investment required to re-finance and pursue alternative opportunities within the sport’
Red Bull will continue to work with Aston Martin in order to deliver the Valkyrie hypercar at the end of the year. Aston Martin has also pledged to delay the launch of its electric vehicles until after 2025.
Red Bull concluded with ‘We thank Aston Martin for their support over the last four years in which time we have achieved 12 wins, 50 podiums and 6 pole positions together. We wish Aston Martin’s employees and shareholders all the best for the future and our focus remains on working together throughout the 2020 season and ending our partnership on a high’
