Aston to join Prodrive empire?
A new owner for Aston Martin is expected to be announced on MondayFord has sold Aston Martin. That's the news flying around the automotive world this weekend with a formal announcement believed to be due Monday morning UK time (Monday evening on the East Coast of Australia).
The successful bidder to purchase the British sportscar marque is believed to be an Arab-funded consortium headed by Prodrive boss, F1 hopeful and WRC honcho, David Richards. The sale, brokered by Swiss financial services group UBS, will see the marque hived off from Ford's Prestige Auto Group (PAG) which also 'houses' Jaguar, Volvo and Land Rover.
Richards' bid has not been confirmed as the winning offer, but scuttlebutt indicates that the ink is all but dry on the deal. Ford had initially wanted around one billion pounds for the business. It's understood that Richards has offered around half that.
In initial discussions regarding the sale it was stated Ford would retain a share of the business and provide ongoing development assistance. Richards' Prodrive business provides engineering development and production services to manufacturers including Ford so such an arrangement might not be necessary.
It is not the first link between Aston and Prodrive. Most recently the competition side of the business has been responsible for the development and construction of Aston Martin racecars for events like the 24 heures du Mans.
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