A Whooping $925 Million For The Aston Martin Brand

Ford Motor Co. is selling its British luxury unit Aston Martin to a group led by David Richards, Benetton and BAR employer Racing engine. The sales transaction would result in a whooping $ 925 million or 479 million pounds. The automaker said last Monday that it would maintain an investment of 40 million pounds in Aston Martin. The unit, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire, England, is famous for its luxury performance. But popularity is reinforced by the James Bond movie, where the models of the units are present. The name of the unit is based on a combination of hill climb Clinton and one of the founders of the company named Lionel Martin. The unit became part of Premier Automotive Group, a division of Ford Motor Co. in 1994. However, the unit was put on sale in August last year. The 12th of this month, the unit was purchased by the British consortium. The agreement, however, expected to close in the second quarter of this year. According to sources close to the front, Richards, founder and chairman of Prodrive motorsport and engineering, will be supported by the Kuwait Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co, and John Sinders, a banker in finance and shipping from Dubai , Houston and Texas. Richards will join the board of Aston Martin as non-executive chairman. Ford was quoted earlier as saying he was considering the sale of Aston Martin to free up funds to invest in other brands amid a sharp slide in sales. One could argue that the second largest automobile manufacturer in the United States issued its biggest loss last year. For the first time in its 103 years of existence in the automobile market, the automaker let the 12.7 billion U.S. dollars in the red. The loss is mainly attributed to fuel prices and interest rates. This has led to consumers outside of sport utility vehicles and truck segments, which are generally accounted for most of the profits. Ford, in the first stage of its restructuring plan of four years, decided to close 16 plants and cut 45,000 jobs. "The sale of Aston Martin supports the key objectives of the company to restructure to operate profitably at lower volumes and changed model mix and accelerating the development of new products," Ford President and CEO Alan Mulally said in a statement . He added: "From the point of view of Aston Martin, the sale will provide access to additional capital, which will allow Aston Martin to continue the growth it has experienced under Ford's direction." Aston Martin's name has become a star in the 1964 film of James Bond "Goldfinger" with Sean Connery his change of Bentley for a gadget-DB5 Laden. The car is equipped with powerful components that the ejector seat, rockets and retractable armored shield and is certainly far beyond the provision of a motor rotor distributor Volvo and Land Rover. Daniel Craig was behind DBS licenses in the latest James Bond movie "Casino Royale. "Transport and General Workers Union (T & G), which represents workers at Aston Martin, said the criteria for sale should be to maintain production in Britain and maximize employment." Prodrive's bid appears to best meet our criteria is why we are happy to welcome the first opportunity, "said Dave Osborne, T & G national secretary for the automotive industry, said in a statement." This is a good business with a skilled workforce and new leadership, with experience in the field. "The company said in January that Aston Martin was in a sound financial base and increased its sales last year almost half to about 6,500.