Update on Ford's Decision to Sell Aston Martin in $925 Million Deal

GAYDON, England, March 12, 2007; Marc Jones writing for Reuters submitted this update to Ford Motor Co's. sale of 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).

Ford the second-biggest U.S. carmaker said on Monday it would retain a 40 million pound investment in Aston Martin, the carmaker James Bond spy films made famous, and that it expected the deal to close in the second quarter of this year.

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

Richards, whose Prodrive motor-sport and engineering group has a team place for the 2008 Formula One championship, is being partnered in the deal by Kuwait's Investment Dar and Adeem Investment Co, as well as John Sinders, a banker in finance and shipping from Houston, Texas, and Dubai.

Ford said in August it was considering the sale of Aston Martin to free 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.