Aston Martin has quietly sold control of its own name in everything it does outside cars to keep the lights on. The British sports car maker agreed to hand 50.1 percent of its non-automotive branding rights to US brand group Authentic Brands as part of a £550 million ($738 million) debt package led by HPS Investment Partners, drawing a furious response from existing creditors.
The move splits the Aston Martin name in two: one bucket for road cars and Formula 1, another for lifestyle products, merchandise, and licensing. Creditors owed about £1.3 billion ($1.75 billion) argue that shifting this intellectual property into a new structure to back the HPS deal moves prime collateral out of their reach and may breach bond covenants. They have already fired a formal legal warning at the company’s board.
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