The ballet of rumors and denials around the possible and long-awaited Porsche IPO continues. According to rumors gathered by Reuters, the Porsche and Piech families, which control Volkswagen’s largest shareholder, are ready to take a direct stake in Porsche if the luxury carmaker is listed separately. Such a move would loosen families’ grip on Europe’s largest carmaker Volkswagen, in favor of direct ownership of the iconic sports car brand, founded by their ancestor Ferdinand Porsche in April 1931.
Assumptions about a listing earlier this year included estimates of a Porsche self-valuation of between € 45 billion and € 90 billion. A nice sum, compared to the 135 billion of the Volkswagen group, which controls Porsche. According to other rumors, dating back to last February, the placement could concern a maximum of 25% of the shares of the house in Zuffenhausen, a district north of Stuttgart. Two years ago Porsche CFO Lutz Meschke spoke of the opportunity to follow the example of Ferrari and Aston Martin to make the brand more attractive.
Loading…
While asserting that a possible initial public offering by Porsche is not among the absolute priorities, Volkswagen would still be in a phase of assessing the scenarios even if the rather complicated governance structure does not facilitate the task.
This setup was carefully crafted in the wake of Porsche’s failed takeover of Volkswagen in 2009, which led Volkswagen to acquire the luxury brand, while the Porsche and Piech families became the most influential investors in the Wolfsburg house: through Porsche. Automobil Holding SE hold 31.4% of the share capital and 53.3% of the voting rights. Volkswagen has not yet decided whether to list Porsche separately and there is no guarantee that such a move will occur, anonymous sources told Reuters.
Following the news, shares of Volkswagen (+ 1.10%) and Porsche SE (+ 1.51%) were well bought on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. No comments were leaked from the two companies. When asked about a possible listing of Porsche in early May, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess replied that the group’s current cash flow is sufficient to finance the ambitious turning point that aims to transform VW from a giant of heat-engine cars. in the world‘s largest electric vehicle manufacturer.