PIF raises stake in Aston Martin to 20.5%

Aston Martin

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has increased its stake in Aston Martin to 20.5 percent, according to a regulatory filing on the London Stock Exchange.

The fund’s shareholding went up by 2.6 percentage points from 17.9 percent through Lucid Group’s holding, placing PIF ahead of Geely chairman and Chinese entrepreneur Shufu Li on Aston Martin’s shareholder list.

The sovereign fund-backed Lucid Group signed a deal with the British luxury carmaker in June to produce high-performance electric vehicles (EVs) from 2025.

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As part of the agreement, Lucid will supply Aston Martin with components for manufacturing battery-electric vehicle models.

PIF owns a 65 percent stake in the US-based EV manufacturer.

Another Lucid unit, Atieva, owns a 3.44 percent stake in Aston Martin, a separate regulatory filing showed.

In its nine-month financial statement, Aston Martin expects to deliver significant growth in profitability compared to 2022, driven by an increase in volumes and higher gross margin in both core and special vehicles.

The company now targets positive free cash flow in Q4, including the initial $33 million cash payment to Lucid related to the strategic supply arrangement announced in June, which is expected to be paid in the fourth quarter of 2023.