Aston boss to buy the company?
Dr. Bez set to lead buy-out group
The DB7: Ford's first Aston Martin
Rumours are washing around that Aston Martin's chief executive Dr. Ulrich Bez, who's been responsible for the resurgence of the marque in recent years, is planning a management buy-out. That's according to senior sources at Ford, anyway. Bez wouldn't comment on his interest in the matter.
But there are likely to be others, according to industry analysts. These include the possibility of a bid from ex-Ford boss Jac Nasser via an equity firm, and a Russian oligarch "eager to capture a trophy asset", according to the Times.
Ford hopes to get a whopping $2 billion from the sale, although analysts reckons that's way too high.
It follows the announcement last week that Ford is putting Aston Martin up for sale as part of its attempt to get out of the financial mire in which it sits as a result of a number of factors -- such as high oil prices, and an over-dependence on US buyers continuing to buy huge SUVs and pickups. Plus, it's been propping up loss-making Jaguar for years, a luxury some suggest it can no longer afford.
That's one of the reasons why the top job at Ford has just gone to a man from Boeing. Alan Mulally, head of Boeing’s commercial aircraft division, was appointed late yesterday in place of Bill Ford, a great-grandson of founder Henry Ford, who moves to the back benches as executive chairman. Mulally is reckoned to have resolved the production problems that Boeing suffered at the end of the 1990s and executed the company’s so-called "lean manufacturing" strategy.
Ford reported a loss of $1.3 billion in the first half of 2006, and its market share has fallen over the years from 25 per cent in 1995 to 16 per cent in August 2006.
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