Automobile giant Mahindra Group seems to have drawn out of the competition for disturbed luxury sports vehicle brand Aston Martin. As per sources, Aston Martin’s long list of debts is possibly the major cause why Mahindra & Mahindra has calmed down towards the bid.
M&M’s team members, who were in UK till last week, came back to India and afterward went to Beijing for the auto giant’s twelve-monthly Blue Chip meeting.
Mr. Anand Mahindra, M&M chairman, has also been posting messages on Twitter regarding the Beijing meeting.
In the meantime, sources stated that the European PE fund Investindustrial’s top groups are still in UK as talks for Aston Martin are going on.
Sources also stated that aside from Aston Martin’s personal financial problems, the Mahindra group was also shocked by the reality that TID (The Investment Dar), the Kuwait-based proprietor who possesses half of Aston Martin Lagonda, is itself going through troubled waters.
In the year 2011, Last year, The Investment Dar declared that it would inaugurate a proposal to reorganize 1.37 billion dinars ($5 billion) of arrears on June 30, 2011.
The company also declared that Kuwait’s Special Circuit Court of Appeal had given nod to its demand to apply to the nation’s Financial Stability Law.
The restructuring process would take around eight and half years.
Sources said even though the Aston Martin brand is still a sturdy one, Mahindra Group was not eager to make entry as a portfolio investor.
The Mumbai-based auto firm has always insisted on management control and has picked up another upset worldwide asset it bought in the year 2010 – Korean automobile firm Ssangyong.