Bidding for Aston Martin, which was put up for sale by Ford five months ago, closes today.
The investment bank that's managing the Aston sale set today as the deadline for bids, which are expected to be around one billion US dollars -- or about £550 million. Analysts also reckon that, at that price, it's a vanity purchase rather than one designed to offer a full return on investment within three years, which is the standard business metric.
Initially, there were at least 30 bidders up for buying Aston Martin but the list is now said to be down to a consortium led by super-rich Australian James Packer, another led by Aston boss Ulrich Bez, and a third led by Syrian-born billionaire Simon Halabi.
Autocar reports that equity groups from the UK and elsewhere are interested, along with Canadian component manufacturer Magna. We'll be bringing you the result as soon as possible.
We can expect to know the identity of Aston Martin's new owner this week.