Ford Sells Aston Martin For $925 Million

LONDON/GAYDON March 12, 2007; Mathieu Robbins and Marc Jones writing for Reuters reported that Ford Motor Co. is selling British luxury car maker Aston Martin to a group fronted by former Benetton and BAR motor racing boss David Richards in a deal worth 479 million pounds ($925 million).

The second-biggest U.S. carmaker said on Monday it would retain a $77 million investment in Aston Martin, the carmaker made famous by the James Bond spy films, and that it expected the deal to close during the second quarter of this year.

Details of the transaction broadly confirmed what sources close to the matter had told Reuters.

Kuwait's Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co. are partners in the purchase with Prodrive, a motor-sport and engineering group led by Richards which has a team place for the 2008 Formula One championship.

Ford said in August it was considering the sale of Aston Martin to free up funds to invest in its other brands amid a sharp downturn in sales.

The U.S. group posted the biggest loss in its 103-year history in 2006, falling $12.7 billion into the red, as high fuel prices and interest rates drove consumers away from the trucks and sport utility vehicles that had accounted for most of its sales and profits.

Ford is in the early stages of a four-year turnaround plan that includes closing 16 plants and cutting up to 45,000 jobs.

Fully acquired by Ford in 1993, Aston Martin was founded at the start of World War One and battled against financial difficulties and the pressures of producing hand-crafted cars in an industry powered by mass production.

It was not until industrialist David Brown bought the company in the late 1940s that it enjoyed some stability. Brown's initials are still used to name individual models.

The Aston Martin name was boosted by its star turn in the 1964 James Bond film "Goldfinger," with Sean Connery swapping his Bentley for a gadget-laden DB5, complete with ejector seat, rockets and retractable armored shield.

An Aston Martin has been Bond's choice ever since, with Daniel Craig behind the wheel of a silver DBS in the 2006 film "Casino Royale."

The Transport and General Workers Union (T&G), which represents Aston Martin workers, said criteria for the sale should be to keep manufacturing in Britain and maximize jobs.

"The bid from Prodrive appears to best meet our criteria which is why we're looking forward to meeting with them at the earliest opportunity," said Dave Osborne, T&G national secretary for the car industry, said in a statement.

"This is a good business with a skilled workforce and a new leadership with a background in the industry."

(Poonima Gupta in Detroit, James Cordahi in Dubai and Mark Potter in London contributed additional reporting for Reuters)