Aston Martin to raise more than £500mn through Saudi fund and rights issue

Aston Martin to raise more than £500mn through Saudi fund and rights issue

Aston Martin is closing in on a deal to raise significantly more than £500mn by bringing in Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund as a major shareholder and holding a rights issue for investors, according to two people.

The luxury carmaker’s board will meet on Thursday evening to discuss the fundraising plan, which is expected to be announced as early as Friday, the people said.

The proposal will result in the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, PIF, investing up to £200mn for a shareholding of slightly less than 20 per cent and a seat on the carmaker’s board.

PIF is one of the world’s largest investors, and owns stakes in electric carmaker Lucid and British supercar group McLaren.

The planned financing would also involve Aston launching a rights issue for investors that will be at least £300mn, and could be considerably higher.

The exact size of the rights issue will be decided in the board meeting, the people added. Chair Lawrence Stroll and his Yew Tree investment consortium have already agreed to take up their options.

Aston’s board has also recently received a separate investment proposal from China’s Geely, which it will consider during Thursday’s meeting, three people said.

The Chinese carmaker’s proposal includes both an equity investment and