Lawrence Stroll first came into the limelight in F1 after taking over Force India in 2018 and rebranding it as Racing Point a year later. Since then, he has been featured heavily in the news, with him being one of the most active & team owners in F1.
In 2021, a consortium led by him made big investments in Aston Martin that saw him become a majority shareholder. As a result, he let go of the Racing Point name, by bringing back Aston Martin to the sport, with Sebastian Vettel and his son Lance Stroll as the two drivers.
Stroll’s ambitions are big, as he strives to compete with the top teams in the very near future. However, his efforts have not materialized into strong results out on track. The Silverstone-based outfit has just a solitary podium finish in two years, heading into the 2023 campaign. On top of that, he recently had to make another investment out of his pocket to prevent a team takeover ahead of the new season.
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Lawrence Stroll upped his recent $2 million investment in Aston Martin
Stroll and his consortium recently put about $2 million into the company, which increased his stake to 23%. However, the threat of another consortium becoming the majority shareholder of Aston Martin loomed large, which is why the Canadian had to put in more money.
Stroll’s consortium is called Yew Trees Overseas Ltd. and involves the likes of JCB’s Lord Anthony Bamford and billionaires Silas Chou, John McCaw & Ernesto Bertarelli.
Lawrence Stroll increased his shareholding in Aston Martin from 19% to 28,29% by series of investments before Christmas totaling £50m
By this move Stroll and Yew Tree investment group are blocking the takeover of Aston Martin by the Chinese giant Geely, who can acquire only 8% pic.twitter.com/EkpmwtCjcP
— Aston Martin F1 updates (@startonpole) December 26, 2022
Chinese car manufacturer Geely currently has a 7.6% ownership but was planning on putting in more money which would put Stroll’s position at the helm under threat. The 63-year-old was forced to make yet another investment which means he has now put in more than $60 million since the start of 2022. Stroll now owns roughly 30% of Aston Martin’s shares.
“As a group of investors we share a firm belief that Aston Martin is undervalued,” said Stroll as quoted by Autocar UK. “And that, despite the recent supply chain challenges, it is well set to continue its growth trajectory in the ultra-luxury high performance automotive business.”
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