The DFL, the German football league, has approved the acquisition of 10.41% of Bundelsiga club VfB Stuttgart by sports car manufacturer Porsche.
Porsche will acquire an initial 5.49% of the shares with a second tranche to be acquired in June 2024.
Rules in Germany state that a Bundesliga football club must be majority-owned by the club and not by a private investor. This is the so-called 50+1 rule, designed to maintain control of the football club by its association, rather than under the ownership of an investor or investment group.
Porsche has been awaiting approval from the DFL for some time as Volkswagen, which controls the sports car brand, owns a 100% stake in Wolfsburg.
Porsche is based in Stuttgart and is already a sponsor of the club. According to the equity agreement, the automotive company will have two seats on the club’s supervisory board.
Lutz Meschke, vice-president of Stuttgart said: “We are delighted that the Deutsche Fussball Liga has recognized our investment as independent. This gives us the opportunity to increase our stake to above 10%. We want to actively contribute our know-how to continue to successfully develop the team together with all our partners. We share a great tradition with VfB Stuttgart. Porsche thus strengthens its long-term commitment to the Stuttgart region, in which we both have deep roots.”
Since the start of the current season, Porsche subsidiary MHP has owned the naming rights to the MHP Arena in Stuttgart.
“The renaming of the former Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium to the MHP Arena Stuttgart excites our brand and supports our growth path,” says Ralf Hofmann, co-founder and chairman of the board of directors of MHP.
Alexander Wehrle, chairman of the executive board of VfB Stuttgart: “The arrival of Porsche is a historic step that will guarantee us long-term stability and room for manoeuvre. We will use it to consolidate the future of VfB and continue to develop.”