Shares in Aston Martin Lagonda surged Friday after main shareholder Yew Tree Consortium, owned by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, increased its stake in the group on the road to recovery.
Stroll’s company, which three years ago saved the automaker from bankruptcy, agreed to purchase a further 26 million shares, increasing its stake to above 26 percent from just under 23 percent.
It remains short of the 30-percent threshold at which it must declare whether the consortium wishes to launch a takeover of Aston Martin, the marque beloved by fictional British spy James Bond.
Following Friday’s announcement, its share price accelerated 13.5 percent in London afternoon deals to trade at 296.4 pence.
“This additional investment demonstrates the Yew Tree Consortium’s continuing confidence and belief in the future of Aston Martin,” Stroll said in a statement.
“The company has delivered a major turnaround since the Yew Tree Consortium’s initial investment” in 2020, he added.
Friday’s announcement comes after Aston Martin saw its net losses more than halve in the first half on reduced financing costs and higher sales of its luxury cars.
It earlier this year struck a deal with US-Saudi electric vehicle specialist Lucid Group to help make the British group’s ‘green’ cars while its shares have nearly doubled in value this year. — Agence France-Presse
