Mahindra and Mahindra to buy Aston Martin?
Aston Martin is at the centre of an international takeover battle after Mahindra and Mahindra trumped an Italian bid for half of the British luxury car maker.
Italian private equity fund Investindustrial reached an agreement on Thursday with the owner, Kuwaiti investment house Investment Dar, but Mahindra and Mahindra made a higher offer on Friday, leaving the fate of the 98-year old icon of British motor engineering hanging in the balance, sources familiar with the discussions said.
Aston Martin sells 15 percent of its DB9, Vanquish and other models in Asia.
"Talks are continuing through the weekend," said one source, who said Investindustrial had bid between 200 million and 250 million pounds for the stake, and is confident of winning the race because it sees its proposal as "technically" superior, including a technical partnership deal with Daimler AG's Mercedes.
The same source said manufacturing would stay at Gaydon under the Italian proposal.
A spokesman for Investment Dar, which went to the market for a $1 billion debt restructuring last year, was not immediately available for comment, nor could Mahindra be reached for comment. Investindustrial declined comment.
Investindustrial, owned by Italy's Bonomi family, is not new to luxury motor brands. In 2006, it bought Italian motorcycle maker Ducati and sold it for about 860 million euros last April to Volkswagen's Audi division.
Mahindra is the world number one tractor make. It also makes more sport utlitiy vehicles than any other Indian motor manufacturer, and controls South Korean car maker Ssangyong Motor Co Ltd.
