Penny Hughes Appointed to Chair Aston Martin

Penny Hughes has been named chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc ahead of the luxury marque’s planned initial public stock offering.

She will become nonexecutive chairman of the board at the time of the IPO, which is expected to be listed on the London Stock Exchange early next month. The company announced preliminary regulatory filings last month.

Hughes spent the bulk of her career at Coca-Cola, where she headed the company’s operations in the U.K. and Ireland. She also has served on the boards of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Vodafone and supermarket giant WM Morrison.

Joining Hughes on Aston Martin’s board are:

• Richard Solomons, former InterContinental Hotels CEO
• Imelda Walsh, former Sainsbury’s executive
• Peter Espenhahn, former Deutsche Bank executive
• Matthew Carrington, Arab British Chambers of Commerce director
• Tensie Whelan, New York University professor of business and society

Andy Palmer will continue to serve as CEO.

Aston Martin plans to float at least 25% of its shares. Analysts have valued the IPO at more than £5 billion ($6.5 billion).

Eligible employees and customers will be able to apply to buy shares at the offer price. Aston Martin lists Investindustrial, Adeem Investments and Primewagon as selling shareholders. Daimler is expected to convert its 4.9% holding to ordinary shares.