Italian firm agrees to buy 37.5% of Aston Martin

Italian private equity firm Investindustrial has purchased a minority stake in supercar-maker Aston Martin. The 37.5-percent share carries a price of $241 million, while a majority stake is still held by Kuwait's Investment Dar. Aston Martin says this deal will allow the UK brand to pour $1 billion into new product, funding vehicle development through 2018.

The Italian firm beat out Indian truck and tractor producer Mahindra and Mahindra, but some analysts are skeptical of the deal, claiming that it does not account for "scale, access to technology, emissions or entry to new segments." That's especially true since Aston indicates that pen has not been put to paper on a proposed technology partnership between itself and Mercedes-Benz, a provision some analysts expected.