Aston Martin staff set for cash reward as it gears up for IPO
Aston Martin employees will be given one-off cash rewards to buy their own shares as the luxury car maker gears up to go public this week.
Institutional investors, staff and customers will be able to by shares in its £5bn float from Wednesday, although private investors won't be able to deal in the shares until the following Monday.
The car maker, favoured by James Bond, has set its price range as between £17.50 and £22.50 for ordinary shares.
Read more: Will Aston Martin vanquish the doubters?
It could give the British firm a market cap of up to £5.07bn.
Chief executive Andy Palmer, whose existing 0.6 per cent stake in the company could be worth close to £30m, said the level of investor interest was “unprecedented” ahead of the IPO.
Michael Hewson, market analyst at CMC Markets, said the shares were likely to be over subscribed and back Aston Martin to “vanquish any investor doubts” and reach a similar valuation to Ferrari.
The company said it would give 2,200 employees a one-off cash reward of £1,000 to buy their own shares – although it is not compulsory.
Read more: Aston Martin to hire Penny Hughes to lead £5bn float
Staff in the management team – the level below senior managers – will be given a payment equal to their annual salary for the same purpose as part of an 'IPO Award' scheme, it revealed in its prospectus.
It will float almost 57m shares when it debuts, representing a 25 per cent stake in the company, including existing investors like Adeem Investments, Primewagon and Investindustrial selling off their shares in the company. Senior management will also sell their shares.
However, German car manufacturer Daimler will retain its interest in Aston Martin, converting its non-voting stake into a 4.9 per cent shareholding, locking this up for 12 months post-IPO.
Following years of financial difficulties Aston Martin reported the highest sales in its history last year, at £876m with pre-tax profits of £87m – its first profitable year since 2010.