Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is eagerly racing to acquire a stake
in British luxury car maker Aston Martin in a bid to raise its profile
in the global market.

The Mumbai-based mergers and acquisitions
head at a US bank, who has worked with M&M, said that M&M
chairman Anand Mahindra wanted to get iconic brands to realise his
long-standing ambition to make the group a global player.

Commenting
on the reports about M&M’s interest in acquiring a stake in Aston
Martin, the M&A head said, "He (Anand Mahindra) wants to get those
iconic brands to raise the group's profile in the international market.”

Anand
Mahindra, 57, is the grandson of the M&M’s co-founder. He has
turned the diversified group into a US$15 billion Indian powerhouse,
but has so far failed to make the group a popular auto giant overseas.

Recently,
various reports suggested that M&M is trying to acquire a stake in
Aston Martin from its Kuwait-based owner Investment Dar. A paper
claimed that Investment Dar received at least two compete bids for 50
per cent stake in Aston Martin – one from London-based private-equity
fund Investindustrial and another from India’s Mahindra & Mahindra.

The
report also claimed that M&M poised to outshine Investindustrial in
the race to acquire the stake in the British luxury car maker.