Aston Martin to appoint three banks to prepare £4bn IPO

Luxury carmaker Aston Martin is lining up three banks to manage a floatation that could value the firm at between £4bn and £5bn, according to reports.

The firm, a favourite of the fictional spy James Bond, is set to hire Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan to prepare a possible London stock market listing, Reuters reported.

It follows reports by City A.M. in February that the British firm was mulling a possible initial public offering (IPO) in London, though New York, which attracted Ferrari’s 2015 listing, is also said to be a contender.

The once struggling company, which just had its best year in a decade, is owned by Italian private equity fund Investindustrial.

Last month, research by Brand Finance revealed Aston Martin’s brand value had revved up by 268 percent to $3.6bn (£2.6bn), topping the table as the fastest growing car brand in the world in 2018.

Aston Martin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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