KUWAIT/MILAN — Aston Martin stands at the center of an international takeover battle after Indian motors group Mahindra trumped an Italian bid for half of the British luxury carmaker. Italian private equity fund Investindustrial reached a agreement Thursday with the owner, Kuwaiti investment house Investment Dar, but Mahindra and Mahindra made a higher offer Friday, leaving the fate of the 98-year old icon of British motor engineering hanging in the balance, sources familiar with the discussions said. Aston Martin makes the cars immortalized by James Bond films down the decades in Gaydon, Warwickshire, the heartland of England's early 20th century motor manufacturing heyday. The company was sold in 2007 by US-based Ford Motor Co. for 479 million pounds ($767 million) to Kuwait's Investment Dar and another Kuwait fund, Adeem Investment Co. The consortium was fronted by David Richards –former Formula 1 Benetton and BAR racing boss, who remains chairman. Aston Martin sells approaching 15 percent of its DB9, Vanquish and other models in Asia. Wealthy Chinese buyers snapped up 110 cars in 2010 and sales are expected to have multliplied five-fold to over 500 this year. “Talks are continuing through the weekend,” said one source, who said Investindustrial had bid between 200 million and 250 million pounds ($400 million) for the stake, and is confident of winning the race because it sees its proposal as “technically” superior, including a technical partnership deal with Daimler AG's Mercedes. Manufacturing would stay at Gaydon under the Italian proposal. — Reuters
