Aston Martin plans to appoint three banks to prepare 4 billion pounds float - source

By Ben Martin

LONDON (Reuters) - Aston Martin is preparing to appoint three banks to manage a possible London stock market listing of the luxury car manufacturer that could value it at between 4 billion pounds and 5 billion pounds, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

The British sportscar maker plans to hire Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to help plan for an initial public offering, the source said.

A potential float of the 104-year-old company would follow the IPO of Italian sportscar maker Ferrari <RACE.MI>, which made its Wall Street debut in 2015 amid strong investor demand.

Aston Martin owners, Italian private equity fund Investindustrial and a group of Kuwaiti investors, hired Lazard to examine options for the business late last year, two sources told Reuters in December.

Aston Martin declined to comment, as did Goldman Sachs. Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru and Ben Martin in London)