Two European billionaires are considering a joint venture to purchase Ford’s luxury brand Aston Martin.

Arnault is chairman of luxury goods group LVMH and Frere is chairman of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, the Belgian investment company. They both announced they would create a new investment joint venture to fund a possile offer.

"They are looking at Aston Martin. It falls within the scope of their investment fund," an anonymous person close to the pair told the Financial Times today.

In a statement, they said the venture would invest in both listed and unlisted companies, mainly in Europe. "Several projects are already being studied in-depth," it said.

A bid for Aston Martin would be worth an estimated €1 billion (£670m), the newspaper said.