A consortium led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll agreed to acquire a 16.7% stake in Aston Martin, a British independent manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers, for £182m ($238m). The company also announced a proposed rights issue supported by the major shareholders of £318m ($415m) to raise combined proceeds of £500m ($653m). "The difficult trading performance in 2019 resulted in severe pressure on liquidity which has left the Company with no alternative but to seek substantial additional equity financing. Without this the balance sheet is not robust enough to support the operations of the group. Notwithstanding recent weak trading, the strength of the Aston Martin brand and our expanding portfolio of cars has allowed us to attract a strong new partner in Mr. Stroll to support the turnaround of the business," Penny Hughes, Aston Martin Chair.