Float will value Aston Martin at up to £5 billion
West Midlands-based luxury car maker Aston Martin expects to be valued at up to £5 billion when it floats on the London Stock Exchange next month.
The company – famous for producing James Bond's favourite cars in the 007 movies – has set a price range for its London listing of between £17.50 and £22.50 per ordinary share.
It means the car maker will likely have a market capitalisation of between £4.02 billion and £5.07 billion.
Aston Martin confirmed that the offering size would mean floating approximately 56,775,792 shares, equating to a 25% stake in the business.
Those shares will come from existing shareholders, including Investindustrial, Adeem Investments, Primewagon and senior management.
It said Daimler AG of Germany will remain a stakeholder and will not sell down its holding at the IPO. The company will instead convert its current non-voting stake of 4.9% to shares.
Final pricing of the IPO is expected to be announced on or around October 3, when shares are expected to start conditional trading on the London Stock Exchange.
Unconditional trading will start on or around October 8.
Aston Martin's president and group chief executive Andy Palmer said: "By becoming the only automotive company listed on the London Stock Exchange, Aston Martin Lagonda will provide investors with a fitting opportunity to participate in our future success.
"Our Second Century Plan gives prospective investors deep insight into how we have executed our turnaround and how we are positioned for growth.
"Over the past four years the benefits of the Aston Martin turnaround to the UK economy have been profound. We have secured and created thousands of jobs in the West Midlands and South Wales, boosted our investments in manufacturing and engineering and increased our spend with local suppliers.
"This track record has created significant interest in the Aston Martin Lagonda offer, and we are pleased to offer shares not only to institutional investors but also to our eligible UK resident employees, customers and members of the Aston Martin Owners Club."
From its headquarters in Gaydon the company has expanded to a new factory at St Athan in South Wales that will make Lagondas and the brands electric Rapide E.
After years of losses its recent turnaround has seen the company grow to employ 2,300 people while last year its full-year earnings hit £230.8m on revenues of £876m.
