Volkswagen, the world’s second-largest auto group, gave the green light on Monday night to list its Porsche subsidiary on the stock market for one of the largest-ever listings in Europe, despite markets They are on a slippery slope.
Volkswagen’s Board of Directors “decided today, with the approval of the Supervisory Board”, to list the shares of its subsidiary Porsche AG “subject to new developments in the capital market” with a view to “implementing by the end of the year”, according to a press release from the two decision-making bodies of the group, which took turns holding decisive meetings during the day.
The German manufacturer unveiled its project last winter, exactly on February 24, the first day of the Russian army’s invasion of Ukraine. The economic shocks that followed, especially on the stock markets, had cast doubt on the timing of this “IPO”: Porsche’s introduction to the stock market. The company from Zuffenhausen, near Stuttgart (southwest), is valued between 60,000 and 85,000 million euros, according to Bloomberg.
Electric car, connected and autonomous
Porsche is currently wholly owned by the Volkswagen Group. This, in turn, is controlled by a financial holding company, called Porsche SE, through which the Porsche-Piëch family holds the absolute majority of the voting rights (approximately 54%).
Porsche’s capital was divided into 50% non-voting preferred shares and 50% voting ordinary shares. Investors in the market will be offered in the coming weeks to subscribe to “up to 25%” of the preferred shares, for a price not yet determined.
At the same time, the VW authorities approved the sale of “25% plus one share” of the “ordinary” shares of Porsche AG to the holding company Porsche SE. In this way, the Porsche-Piëch clan will be able to maintain a blocking minority and will still be able in the future to gradually increase its control in the family business launched by engineer Ferry Porsche after World War II.
By giving up a fraction of its control over Porsche, Volkswagen will be able to raise the billions needed to finance its investments in the electric, connected and autonomous car.
Source: BFM TV
