Having revised the terms of its earlier 14-for-25 rights issue, Aston Martin undertook a four-for-one rights issue, looking to tap shareholders for around £365m. This was up from the £317m it was previously seeking. The issue price was dropped from 207p to just 30p, a hefty 86 per cent discount to the closing price the day before the updated rights issue was announced.
Aston received acceptances representing 98 per cent of new shares offered, with underwriters Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Cazenove procuring subscribers for the remaining 2 per cent.
The rights issue was part of a £536m equity raise that included a private placement of £171m-worth of shares to a consortium led by former F1 magnate Lawrence Stroll. Mr Stroll is now Aston’s executive chairman and is looking to “reset” the business.
The group also opened a new $100m (£79m) inventory financing facility which will be available from May. This was part of a further £150m of funding secured in March in light of the “unquantifiable uncertainty” from the Covid-19 pandemic. Without these additional facilities, the group had doubts over whether it had sufficient working capital for the next 12 months.
Aston looks to be in reverse gear and this heavily discounted rights issue will provide temporary relief at best. Sell.
