It is quite normal for companies in the automotive industry to change hands, establish different partnerships or become each other’s shareholders. Finally, the Chinese automotive giant Geely took its place among the company’s partners by purchasing approximately 7.6 percent of Aston Martin’s shares.
Aston Martin, which was part of Ford for a period, now has a complex partnership network. Apart from Geely, the company also owns shares of names and organizations such as the Saudi Arabian Wealth Fund, Mercedes-Benz and CEO Lawrence Stroll, whose son is in the Aston Martin F1 team.
Geely expands its product range
In recent years, like many Chinese companies, Geely is trying to become more global by following a more aggressive strategy with its worldwide investments and partnerships. The company, which previously bought LYNK&Co, Volvo and Polestar in Sweden and Lotus in England for this purpose, cooperated with Mercedes-Benz through Volvo. The two companies were also working together to revive the Smart brand.
In fact, Geely has been making plans to buy the Aston Martin brand for a long time. Previously, Geely submitted a bid prior to its 2018 IPO. In 2019, when Aston Martin faced financial problems, Stroll and Geely made mutual offers. Subsequently, Stroll’s effort to turn the brand into a supercar company had the support of the board of directors.
Still, Geely kept his eyes on the firm. Geely, which made another offer in July, was rejected on the grounds that the offer was intended to buy majority shares without generating any gains to existing shareholders.
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