Bloomberg reported that Investment Dar Company, the owner of Aston Martin, had received competing bids from Mahindra & Mahindra and London based private equity fund Investindustrial for half the sports car maker.
The people, asking not to be identified because the talks were private said that Investment Dar and other Kuwaiti investors who own UK based Aston Martin might choose a winner as early as this weekend. The buyer would get the stake as part of a capital increase.
They said that Investindustrial is said to have offered just under EUR 250 million. But, M&M then trumped the offer with a higher bid.
A decision would mark the end of a month long search by Investment Dar to find an investor for Aston Martin, the maker of luxury sports cars featured in James Bond movies, people familiar with the matter said earlier this month.
For Investment Dar, part of the group that bought Aston Martin from Ford Motor Co for EUR 503 million in 2007, the proceeds would help pay off debt.
One of the people said that the winning bidder would get 50% voting rights and a 40% equity stake. Investment Dar, the other Kuwaiti investors and Aston Martin management would retain the rest.
Officials at Investindustrial and Aston Martin declined to comment, while M&M and Investment Dar did not respond to requests for comment outside of regular business hours yesterday. The talks were reported earlier yesterday by Private Equity News.
