Aston Martin chair cements his grip as kuwaiti group pares stake

[LONDON] Billionaire Lawrence Stroll is solidifying his control of Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings as Kuwaiti investors who used to be among the UK carmaker's largest shareholder shrink their stake.

Amr Ali Abdallah Abou El Seoud, Adeem/Primewagon's representative director on Aston's board, stepped down from the position after the shareholder group's holding in the automaker fell below 7 per cent, the company said in a filing Friday.

This is the second reshuffling of Aston's board in less than a month - three members stepped down in late January and were replaced by five new directors backed by Mr Stroll. Adeem also gave up a board seat in November in anticipation of its holding dropping below 10 per cent.

The Canadian billionaire became Aston Martin's chairman early last year after leading a rescue of the sports-car manufacturer. Mr Stroll, 61, has injected much-needed cash and forged closer ties with Daimler AG to survive tumultuous times for the auto industry. He replaced former Chief Executive Officer Andy Palmer with Tobias Moers, who used to lead Daimler's AMG division, and has returned the company to Formula 1 racing.

Adeem and other investors bought Aston from Ford Motor Co in 2007. They took the company public in a 2018 share sale that sought to replicate the success of Ferrari NV, but the stock plunged due to inventory-management and liquidity issues.

BLOOMBERG