Tata interested in Aston Martin – AM Online report

Writing on the website AM Online (Automotive Management), Jeremy Bennett reports that Indian manufacturer Tata is showing an interest in Aston Martin. The article quotes a Birmingham Post source that Tata is “one of several potential buyers for Gaydon-based Aston Martin, alongside the likes of Toyota and Mahindra & Mahindra.”

Aston Martin continues to deny the rumours, as it has for much of the year, and this week labelled itself ‘not for sale’. A number of recent reports have emerged in financial and automotive media suggesting that “the Kuwaiti firm Investment Dar, which owns 64 per cent of Aston Martin, wants to off-load its investment and has appointed Rothschild to help find a buyer.

The Birmingham Post source, which it describes as being “close to Tata” told the paper that talks had taken place with Aston Martin executives. There are a number of companies interested in the deal, including Mahindra & Mahindra, and “a number of Chinese companies” the source says, with the deal mooted as a possibility before the end of the year.

“Investment Dar was the major investor in the group that bought Aston Martin and the consortium is believed to be keen to off-load its 64 per cent stake for around £500 million,” AM Online’s Bennett concludes.