Industry News
LVMH Louis Vuitton bid secures Aston Martin, says AutoBild
2nd Febuary 2007
Neither vendor Ford Motor Co. nor LVMH has yet confirmed a report in the German magazine AutoBild that the latter - the French owner of luxury consumer brands including Louis Vuitton - will acquire Aston Martin from Ford, with the latter retaining a 15% stake. Separately, it was announced today that David King has been appointed as the new head of product communications and motor sport for Aston Martin.
Ford had set an end-of-January deadline for what the U.S. magazine Autoweek reported were up to six bidders to present offers for Aston Martin, which were said to have valued the business at between £500 million and £550 million.
Bidders are understood to have included Magna International, the British private equity firm Doughty Hanson, a Syrian property millionaire Simon Halabi, and a consortium including the Australian media owner James Packer. Interest was also reported from Aston Martin’s CEO Ulrich Bez, although he was not connected by media reports to any particular corporate bidder.
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