Mercedes-Benz will increase its stake in Aston Martin to up to 20 percent from 2.6 percent as part of an expanded technology partnership between the automakers. Aston Martin will get access to advanced Mercedes technologies, including next-generation hybrid and electric powertrains, Mercedes said in a statement on Tuesday.

Mercedes will receive new shares in Aston Martin as part of the partnership. Mercedes said it will not increase its holding in Aston Martin beyond 20 percent. “We already have a successful technology partnership in place with Aston Martin that has benefited both companies. With this new expanded partnership we will be able to provide Aston Martin with access to new cutting-edge technologies and components,” Mercedes’ product strategy chief, Wolf-Dieter Kurz, said in the statement.

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By expanding a tie-up with Mercedes that started in 2013, Aston Martin will spare its already stretched balance sheet from spending on a costly shift away from internal combustion engines. Mercedes will not put any cash into its partner. Supplying electric-car technology to Aston Martin will boost economies of scale beyond Mercedes’s own product range.

Aston Martin has struggled in the less than two years since going public, with high inventory and poor sales of its core sports cars undermining efforts to replicate Ferrari’s stock market success.

Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll bailed out the automaker early this year and Tobias Moers, the former head of Daimler’s Mercedes-AMG performance division, replaced Andy Palmer as Aston Martin’s CEO on Aug. 1.

Aston Martin will separately raise a total of about 1.3 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) through new bond and stock offerings, most of which will be used to refinance existing debt.

Source: Autocar.co.uk