Geely doubles stake in Aston Martin to 17%

Geely has doubled its stake in Aston Martin to 17 per cent, growing the Chinese carmaker’s influence over a company that it has long sought to own.

The group spent £234mn increasing its holding, making it the third-largest shareholder after the consortium of investors led by Aston Martin chair Lawrence Stroll, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and placing it ahead of Mercedes-Benz.

Geely bought 42mn shares from Stroll’s consortium, and was issued with 28mn new shares at 335p each, a substantial premium over the current share price of 231p.

Geely will be given a seat on the board and has agreed not to increase its holding again until August 2024.

The carmaker has tried to buy Aston Martin several times in the past, including launching a rival bid to Stroll in 2020, and again last summer. It eventually bought a 7 per cent stake on the open market last September.

Geely chief executive Daniel Li told the Financial Times last week that the company “loves the brand” and wanted to “generate synergies” with its current business that includes Lotus and Polestar.

Stroll on Thursday said the deal gave Aston the chance to “access their range of technologies and components”.