James Bond’s carmaker Aston Martin plans for an IPO

After dominating most of the James Bond movies for more than a century, Aston Martin is planning to get listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) later this year. This could value Aston Martin at around $6 billion. This comes after a three-year restructuring push led by CEO Andy Palmer. James Bond-driven famed carmaker is going public for running its daily business activities.

The luxury British sports car manufacturer intends to float about 25% of the company. It is expected that most of the funds could come from existing investors. According to the Wall Street Journal, the offering would consist of about $1.29 billion or more of shares.

The carmaker, which was founded in 1913, is expected to debut on the LSE soon. Market experts believe that if Aston Martin’s IPO is successfully completed then it could give a tough competition for luxury carmaker Volkswagen AG, as well as other automakers like Ford Motors (F), General Motors (GM) and Toyota Motor (TM).

For the most recent first-quarter, Aston Martin achieved positive pre-tax profits as strong demand continued for DB11 V8 twin-turbo coupe and Volante models. Average selling price per vehicle rose 11% on higher options uptake and regional mix. Total product investment climbed by 48% on higher research and development spending and continued development of its new manufacturing facility in St. Athan, Wales.

Wholesale volumes fell by 20% as the company sold dealer inventory of older models and executed multiple production line model changeovers. Wholesales volumes increased in the US, China, and Asia Pacific regions on order deliveries prioritization in these key growth markets.

For the balance of the year, the company had expected deliveries to customers in all geographic markets to grow helped by several key production model changeovers and inaugural sales of new models. In its IPO filing, Aston Martin Lagonda said that it expects to produce approximately 6,200-6,400 units in the year ending 31 December 2018 and 7,100-7,300 units in the year ending 31 December 2019, respectively.