Aston Martin Considers IPO, Plans Major Push in Chinese Market

Since it was sold by Ford Motor Company to a group of private investors back in 2007, Aston Martin has been looking at new avenues for opportunities and growth. Among them, has been the recent expansion into the city car market with the Toyota iQ based Cygnet, as well as strategies to cater to buyers in new and emerging markets.

In particular, Aston Martin is looking towards China as a major center for potential growth. Although the company’s chief commercial officer Michael Van Der Sande said that Aston “came very late to the party in China,”  the firm is making up for lost ground. It expects to sell a few hundred cars in that country this year, through a network of some 14 independent dealers. “We are taking it [China] much more seriously,” he says.

Aston has also been able to raise some £304 million(approximately $486.4 million) to help re-finance outstanding debt, which includes a £200 million  bank loan and £30 million dividend; it also posted earnings of some £97.8 million on revenue of £509.1 million ($814.4 million) in the year ending March 31, 2011, a period which also saw it deliver some 4,299 cars world wide.

Although at present, the company is under no pressure to raise further cash by instigate an Initial Public Offering for shares, Aston Martin CEO Dr. Ulrich Betz has said the idea is being considered. “We will be ready for it if the time is right. You need to pick the right window,” he stated during a recent press conference at the firm’s manufacturing facility in Gaydon, Warwickshire, UK.

[Source: Bloomberg]