China's Geely Takes 8-Percent Stake in Aston Martin

Aston Martin announced Friday it has raised £654 million ($726 million) as it aims to produce a range of mid-engine sports cars, and push into electrification. One of the more interesting shareholders is Geely, the Chinese automaker that owns Volvo, Polestar, and Lotus, plus a stake in Mercedes-Benz. Per the Financial Times, Aston Martin and Geely are planning to share technologies in the coming years.

FT points out that Geely previously nearly bought Aston Martin. After the English brand's disastrous IPO, two competing takeover offers from Geely and Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll were considered. Geely wanted to push Aston Martin quickly into electrification, as it's doing with Lotus, while Stroll wanted to enter Formula 1 and compete with the likes of Ferrari and McLaren with a line of mid-engine road cars. Stroll—whose son Lance races for the Aston Martin F1 team—won out, though Geely continued to display interest in Aston. Geely's stake is 7.6 percent, and it will not gain a seat on Aston Martin's board.