Despite $371,000,000 Worth Offer From Lawrence Stroll, Mercedes Opted to Relinquish Deal With Aston Martin

Mercedes made a major investment in Aston Martin Lagonda when they bought 10% shares in the British car company back in 2020. As part of that deal, the Silver Arrows were offered 10% more of the company worth $371,000,000 in 2023. However, according to the 2023 August BusinessF1 reports, Mercedes has decided not to go ahead with the offer made by Lawrence Stroll and Co.

The current shares that Mercedes hold in Aston Martin Lagonda are worth $360,000,000. The new option would have increased their stake in the British car manufacturer to 20%. However, Mercedes have let go of the option, despite there being potential of huge returns.

According to the deal signed in 2020, Mercedes is supposed to supply Aston with electrical technology. However, after the German company rejected the 10% upgrade, Aston Martin decided to ditch them completely. Instead, they tied up with American company Lucid Motors.

Aston Martin and Lawrence Stroll tie up with Lucid Motors

According to the new deal with Lucid Motors, Aston will be using electric powertrain technology from the American company. However, as per their old arragment, Mercedes will still be supplying Aston Martin with engines and related technologies.

When asked by BusinessF1, Lawrence Stroll refused to elaborate on the situation with Mercedes. He only spoke about their new deal with Lucid. Stroll said, “The supply agreement with Lucid is a game changer.”

It is understood that Aston Martin Lagonda will be making a down payment of nearly $232,000,000 to Lucid Motors to secure their services. This payment will be made by offering shares of the company to Lucid.

Why did Mercedes relinquish the deal?

There has been no official announcement from either Mercedes or Aston Martin Lagonda regarding why the companies failed to make the new deal work. However, there have been speculations regarding why this happened. Reportedly, Mercedes did not like the fact that the Aston Martin F1 team  replaced them with Honda as the new engine supplier from 2026.

Another possibility is that Mercedes placed their bet on Lawrence Stroll. With the possibility that the Canadian Billionaire might leave the company, Mercedes don’t want to continue the partnership anymore. Admittedly, Stroll recently gave up $145,650,000 worth of his stakes in the company to the Chinese car manufacturer Geely.