Aston Martin moves ahead with stock market listing as Volvo shelves IPO plans

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Aston Martin has appointed its first ever female chair to run the company board after it floats on the stock market, while Volvo has decided to shelve its planned IPO due to concerns over global trade tensions.

The iconic car maker unveiled its plans for a flotation late last month, and on Monday it said Penny Hughes will become non-executive chair of the board once the group lists on the London Stock Exchange.

Andy Palmer, president and chief executive of Aston Martin, said the appointment was “another significant milestone” in the history of the company.

The motor company, which is widely known as James Bond’s car maker, plans to publish its IPO prospectus on 20 September, in which it will reveal its float price, and expects to be admitted to the stock exchange in October.

The group is reported to be seeking a valuation of £5bn, which would see it entering the market at the top of the FTSE 250.

Aston Martin sells roughly 25 per cent of its cars to the EU and operates its only plant in Britain, with a second one due to begin operations in 2019.

But Palmer said he did not think even a bad Brexit deal involving tariffs would have a big impact on the firm.

“We can demonstrate that Brexit is not a major effect for us,” he said.

“If there is a tariff into Europe, it’s countered by a tariff into the UK for our competitors so you might lose a little bit of market share in the EU but you pick it up in the UK.”

News of Aston Martin’s progress towards going public comes as Volvo Cars and its owner Geely said they had postponed a planned flotation because of trade tensions and a downturn in the motor market.

Volvo and its Chinese parent had been discussing an initial public offering to value the carmaker at between as much as $30bn (£23bn). Volvo said on Monday that a listing was still possible in the future, but chief executive Hakan Samuelsson told Reuters: “We’ve come to the conclusion that the timing is not optimal for an IPO right now.”

Geely, which bought Volvo from Ford for $1.5bn in 2010, wants the company to make deeper inroads into the Chinese market before listing, according to a report by Reuters.

Additional reporting by newswires