(Motorsport-Total.com) – Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff becomes a shareholder in the British sports car manufacturer Aston Martin. Although the 48-year-old Austrian initially denied a story from ‘Motorsport-Total.com’, according to which he had submitted a written offer to start as an investor, in various media, the news has now been officially confirmed.
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Good friends: Lawrence Stroll, Chairman of AML from Monday, and Toto Wolff zoom
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Wolff recently said in an interview with the daily newspaper ‘Austria’ that he would “not make any strategic investments as an investor” at Aston Martin.
The now confirmed transaction is officially referred to as a “personal investment”. According to the Daily Mail, Wolff’s stake is worth £ 37m. This corresponds to the equivalent of more than 42 million euros.
Wolff has thus secured options for a total volume of 4.77 percent of the Aston Martin shares. After completion of the associated rights issue “this investment [Stand nächste Woche] mean a share of 0.95 percent in the company, “explains a Mercedes spokesman.
At the same time, he made it clear: “It is a financial investment, and Toto’s partnership and his executive role at Mercedes remain unaffected by the transaction.”
According to Wolff, he is well friends with Lawrence Stroll, who will officially take up his new position as CEO of Aston Martin on Monday, when AML is listed on the London stock exchange. Bernie Ecclestone’s assertion that the Mercedes team boss could become CEO of Aston Martin in addition to his entry as an investor has not yet been confirmed.
The AML share price has plummeted by more than 90 percent since the IPO in October 2018. At the beginning of January, the paper was still at 175.8 pence sterling (adjusted price after capital increase). AML is currently only at 50.5 pence.
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For the Daimler Group, Wolff’s commitment does not represent a conflict of interest. In 2013, the German automobile manufacturer signed a contract with Aston Martin for the delivery of engines, electrical components and infotainment systems. In return, five percent of the shares (without voting rights) were agreed at the time.
In the course of this transaction, Daimler effectively secured a veto right against investments by the Group’s strategic competitors. In plain language means: Daimler can effectively block new investors at Aston Martin – or leave the partnership with a notice period of three years.
Incidentally, no decision has yet been made regarding Wolff’s future as team boss at Mercedes. His contract expires at the end of the year. Most recently, he had assured ‘Austria’: “I am and will remain the head of Mercedes Motorsport and Formula 1 boss, and nothing will change in the short term.”
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