Aston Martin raises £216m from investors to slash debts

Aston Martin has raised £216million from shareholders to cut down its debt pile following yesterday’s cash call.

The company said some 58.2million new shares at 371 pence per share have been subscribed to, representing a 6.2 per cent discount to the stock’s closing price on Monday.

Of these, just over 1million were snapped up by retail investors for £4million. 

Aston Martin executive chairman, Lawrence Stroll, said: ‘This successful share placing builds on the actions we have taken to create shareholder value. 

‘Supported by the company’s improved financial position, the placing will allow us to meaningfully deleverage the balance sheet and accelerate our journey to become sustainably free cash flow positive.

‘The tremendous backing from our largest shareholders along with the strong appetite from institutional and retail investors also demonstrates the continued confidence in Aston Martin and our future direction.’

Yesterday, the company announced the share placing had already secured £115million of its total from major shareholders.

Its biggest investor the Yew Tree consortium, led by executive chairman and Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, agreed to provide a £44million cash injection.

Today, Aston Martin said Yew Tree has agreed to subscribe for a further 15.7million shares, taking its total cash injection to around £58.2million.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund, meanwhile, stumped up £37million with Geely providing £15million and German giant Mercedes-Benz another £19million.

Aston Martin shares fell 4.3 per cent to 378.40p in morning trading on Tuesday.