Aston Martin jump on reports of talks with China's Geely

Geely was already conducting the due diligence necesary for a possible stake purchase, four people with knowledge of the discussions told the Financial Times.

A technology partnership was a possible alternative to a full investment, the FT added.

On 7 January, Aston said it remained in discussions with potential strategic investors and the FT confirmed the company was in talks with various parties.

One of those was Formula 1 billionaire, Lawrence Stroll, who was said to be closest to investing roughly £200.0m via the issuance of new shares, giving him control of 19.9% of the manufacturer's equity.

Yet it was unclear if Geely would go ahead with an investment if Stroll did so as well, the FT said.

Aston finished 2019 with £107.0m of cash on its books, alongside net debt of £875.0-885.0m which was between 6.9 and 7.6 times its adjusted operating earnings.

However, following the rapid build-up of the order book for its new DBX model to approximately 1,800 vehicles, its debt covenants would allow it to tap a further $100.0m of short-term notes, the company, something which it expected to do over the next four weeks.

As of 1602 GMT, shares of Aston were 12.91% higher to 459.90p.