In a previous blog posted on February 20, 2007 we reported that a German news source said the buyer of Aston Martin would be a holding company which owns several high end companies. It is now official and Ford has sold the profitable luxury car unit, in an effort to raise cash, to David Richards a British racing champion for $848 million.

“The transaction values Aston Martin, manufacturer of James Bond’s preferred car at £479 million, or $925 million. Ford will retain a $77 Million stake. Richards, founder of Prodrive, a British maker of components for race cars, will be joined in the investment by the U.S. banker John Sinders and two Kuwait-based financial firs.

The sale ends a six-month search for a buyer and two decades of Ford control of Aston Martin. Ford bough its initial stake in the British automaker while on its way to posting a then-record profit for 1987. Ford posted a loss of $12.7 billion last year, the most in its 103-year history.

The complete article can be found at:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/12/bloomberg/bxford.php

Pam