Parts of Aston Martin to be sold off

China is expected to account for 25% of Aston Martin’s sales in the future.

The new owners of luxury British carmaker Aston Martin are looking to sell off parts of the company through an Islamic equity partnership, or ‘Musharaka’, in order to finance ambitious expansion plans.

Under the equity partnership, assets such as land, property and technology could be sold to investors, who would then co-own the assets.

No date has been set for the Musharaka, but an executive at WestLB, the bank that structured Aston Martin’s sale in March, recently said it was “in progress”.

Aston Martin was purchased from Ford for almost $1 billion by a consortium made up of Kuwaiti financing companies Investment Dar and Adeem Investments, former Benetton and BAR racing boss David Richards, and US banker John Singers.

Adnan Al-Musallam, chairman and managing director if Investment Dar, which owns 50% of Aston Martin, said the financing was needed to fund the brand's expansion into new markets such as China, India, Russia and the GCC, Arab News reported on Monday.

China is expected to account for 25% of Aston Martin’s sales in the future, he said.

Al-Musallam also said investors would leave the day-to-day running of the company to its senior management.

"In all our acquisitions in the past, we come to help and boost the management. We do not interfere in the day-to-day business," he said.

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