Ducati‘s former owner Investindustrial is ready for its next big acquisition, reportedly submitting a bid to acquire a stake in Aston Martin. Investindustrial is reportedly competing against Indian car and motorcycle maker Mahindra & Mahindra for the stake in the British car company probably best known for its association with the fictional spy James Bond.

According to Bloomberg, Investindustrial has submitted an offer of nearly 250 million British pounds (US$400.7 million) for a 40% equity stake and 50% control of voting rights for Aston Martin. Investindustrial sold its stake in Ducati to Audi earlier this year for  747 million euros (about US$919.1 million, at the time), so it should have the cash to cover its bid for Aston Martin. However, Mahindra & Mahindra, which entered the Indian two-wheeler market in 2008 by acquiring Kinetic Motor Company Limited, reportedly offered more money and is favored to win.

The Investindustrial bid however does have one advantage. It comes with plans to use technology from AMG, the performance arm of Mercedes-Benz. Aston Martin used to be owned by Ford and continues to use Ford engines, but it lost access to a lot of Ford’s resources following the previous sale. The inclusion of AMG technology would help fill that void but it still may not be enough to top Mahindra’s higher bid. Continue Reading »

Last month, news broke that Ducati is once again up for sale, with its owner, private equity firm Investindustrial is looking for a “world-class industrial partner” for the noted Italian manufacturer. Since then, a number of potential suitors have popped up as being interested in acquiring Ducati.

Audi has reportedly cut to the front of the queue to negotiate with Investindustrial. Audi is reportedly offering somewhere in the area of 850 million euro (US$1.1 billion), which is below the 1 billion euros Investindustrial is said to be seeking. The 850 million euro however includes absorbing about 800 million euro in debt. Audi still has a month to finalize its offer though, and unless a deal is struck, Ducati may still be on the market.

Here now is a look at some of the companies whose names have been linked to the Bolognese brand. Some of these companies have expressed some interest in buying Ducati, some have denied any interest, and some were only named because, and let’s face it folks, rumors are fun.

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