Aston Martin to set up Mideast firm

[Plex]

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Luxury car maker Aston Martin, which is controlled by Kuwait's Investment Dar, plans to raise $1.9 billion (1.1 billion pounds) by selling shares in a Middle Eastern firm, which might be later listed, to tap growth in the booming region.

Aston Martin would own a majority stake in the new firm, while the rest of the shares are being sold to investors in the Gulf in a private placement worth 500 million dinars, Chief Executive Ulrich Bez said in an interview.

The new firm, which will revamp Aston's operations in the fast growing Gulf, could be listed after three years depending on market regulations, added Amr Abou El-Seoud, Executive Vice-President of Islamic investment firm Investment Dar.

"It's a shareholding company which will be listed in one of more of the Gulf stock exchanges," he told Reuters, declining to be more specific.

Bez said the new company was part of efforts to expand operations in the Gulf, where the economies benefit from high oil prices, to offset weaker markets such as the U.S. or Europe hit more strongly by a global financial crisis.

Reuters