Geely has taken a share of almost 8% in British performance car brand Aston Martin after a series of bids to acquire a stake in the OEM.

The Chinese carmaker, which already owns Volvo Cars and the London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) alongside major shares in Lotus Cars, Polestar and Smart, took a 7.6% share in Aston’s recent £654mn rights issue.

It comes after the OEM accepted £78 million from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund for a 16.7% stake but rejected a proposal from the Atlas Consortium – consisting of Geely and InvestIndustrial – to invest £1.3bn.

Geely’s newly-secured stake in Aston Martin is the culmination of years of interest in the brand by Li Shufu, the founder and chair of Geely Holding, according to the Financial Times.

It has previously made several bids and went head-to-head with current by Aston Martin chairman and F1 team boss Lawrence Stroll when it tabled a rival bailout offer in 2019.