Aston Martin Investor Restructures Debt Again

Kuwait's Investment Dar, which led the consortium that bought Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. in 2007, is restructuring its debt for the second time in three years, Bloomberg News reports.

Unidentified sources tell the news service that Investment Dar is asking creditors to accept a cash-and-debt payment equal to about half what they are owed. The Kuwaiti firm is guaranteeing its new credit facility with such assets as real estate and its stake in Aston Martin.

Bloomberg says that under the new credit plan, that collateral will be sold in four to seven years.

Investment Dar defaulted on a $100 million bond in 2009 and restructured about $5 billion of debt in 2011. The company's financial woes have prevented it from injecting fresh capital into Aston Martin, which needs cash to fund its five-year, 500 million ($786 million) product development plan.

In December, the maker of luxury sports cars traded 37.5% of its equity for a 150 million ($236 million) capital infusion from London-based private equity firm Investindustrial. Investment Dar remains Aston Martin's largest shareholder.