Lawrence Stroll has reiterated his financial commitment to the Aston Martin team, with the British car manufacturer set to raise £125million in investment through the Canadian businessman’s Yew Tree Consortium, as well as the sale of its minority stake in the F1 squad. The iconic auto manufacturer has been struggling in the stock market of late. Aston Martin shares are down 35 per cent this year, and in February they committed to cutting five per cent of their workforce.
However, Stroll Snr remains committed to the F1 project. On Monday, Aston Martin revealed that his Yew Tree Consortium will purchase 75 million shares at a price of 70p, bringing in £52.5m of funding. According to a report from Reuters, this will increase Stroll Snr’s stake in the Aston Martin team from 27.7 per cent to 33 per cent, and in the future, this could rise to 35 per cent. The British auto manufacturer believes that this sale will realise a premium worth a further £74m.
“I am pleased to clearly demonstrate my unwavering support and commitment to Aston Martin,” the 65-year-old said in a statement. “Since 2020, my Yew Tree Consortium partners and I have invested around £600m into the company.
“This proposed investment further underscores my conviction in this extraordinary brand, and commitment to ensuring Aston Martin has the strongest possible platform for creating long-term value while reducing equity dilution via this premium subscription, which should greatly reassure shareholders as I again increase my long-term ownership in the company.”
CEO Adrian Hallmark added: “We are committed to demonstrating that our strategy delivers long-term growth. By strengthening the balance sheet, this investment provides additional headroom to support our future product innovation and business transformation activities, which combined, will accelerate our progress into being a sustainably profitable company.”
Stroll Snr has now invested in the region of £600m in Aston Martin since taking over the team in 2020, although his immense financial commitment has not produced immediate on-track results.
After a breakthrough year in 2023, Aston Martin looked to have bridged the gap to the top teams, but the Silverstone-based squad regressed heavily in 2024. They finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship standings but ended the year fighting Williams and Sauber at the back of the field.
However, there are reasons to believe that Aston Martin will start to trend back in the right direction. The biggest factor in that assumption is the arrival of Adrian Newey, who has now started work after joining from Red Bull, where he helped Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen to a combined eight World Championships.