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News in brief
publication date: Dec 16, 2008
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author/source: Robin Roberts
Backers of Aston Martin are seeking to sell off part of their investment to raise funds and cover borrowing it made to purchase the prestige car maker last year. Kuwait's Investment Dar said it was considering offers to sell up to 20 percent of Aston Martin and is seeking to borrow up to 300 million dinars ($1 billion) to refinance debt. Executive vice-president Amr Abou El-Seoud said, "We have offers ... we are in talks but the (sale) should be value-added whether financially or technically. We are not considering selling and exiting." Former owner Ford Motor last year sold the company to raise much needed funds to a consortium including Formula 1 specialist David Richards and Investment Dar for £479 million. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson is working on providing UK vehicle manufacturers with a limited financial aid package as fears grow over thousands of job losses in the industry. He is expected to make loan guarantees available to the finance arms of the car companies in a bid to stimulate new car sales. An alternative option is for low-cost car loans to be made from the £400 billion set aside to support the banking industry. Pendragon Group is in serious financial difficulties. Pendragon's lenders must come up with a plan to rescue the dealer group if they want to avoid a debt-for-equity swap, according to media reports. At close of trading last week its share price had dropped to just over 3 pence and it has debts of £287m. Fellow dealer Inchcape has also warned shareholders it is looking at substantially reduced business next year, much lower than anticipated only a few months ago. A White House deal to bail out General Motors, Ford and Chrysler to the tune of $11 billion is reported to be in the process of being finalised. US Treasury officials are locked in talks with representatives of GM, Ford and Chrysler following the failure of US politicians to vote through an aid package last week. Volkswagen's union chief Bernd Osterloh has taken the top role in Porsche Automobil Holding's works council. Osterloh claimed Porsche aims to create a two-class system in which 12,000 Porsche employees outrank VW's 360,000 workforce. Porsche Automobil's 40-member works council will now have 20 employee representatives each from VW and Porsche. With freezing conditions an almost daily occurrence at the moment, the Highways Agency has launched a new campaign to highlight the possible consequences of not planning ahead when travelling in severe weather. Over 450 large posters are being put up in 115 motorway service areas across England to promote the Highways Agency's campaign, and to demonstrate that a few simple checks and some preparation can help avoid disaster. By carrying warm clothes and an emergency pack, including food and water, boots, de-icer, a torch, and a spade if snow is forecast, the worst consequences of breaking down or getting stuck can be easily reduced or even avoided completely. |
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