The Porsche and Piech families, which control Porsche SE, will sell a 10 percent stake of their shares to a Qatar investment fund, giving it a significant stake in a new joint Volkswagen-Porsche company.
The deal, which was to be signed on Friday, will result in more than 1 billion euros (US$1.43 billion) in fresh funds for Porsche SE, the company said in a statement. The Qatar company will also take over a portion of Porsche’s Volkswagen (VW) options.
Earlier in the day, VW’s chief financial officer, Hans Dieter Poetsch, said the Porsche and Piech families were expected to take a stake of between 35 percent and 39 percent in the new company.
PHOTO: AFP
VW also plans a capital hike next year — it will sell preferred shares in the new company to raise about US$6 billion to help fund the deal announced on Thursday, Poetsch said at a meeting of VW workers at the carmaker’s Wolfsburg headquarters.
No figures have been given on the Qatar Holding investment company’s stake but Poetsch said the Emirate Qatar “would become the third biggest shareholder at VW with a substantial stake.”
On Thursday, Volkswagen’s supervisory board approved absorbing Porsche AG into VW by the end of 2011, with an initial 42 percent stake to be acquired this year for US$4.72 billion.
VW will then in turn buy Porsche SE, the Salzburg-Austria based automobile trading business, for 3.55 billion euros starting in 2011.
“Volkswagen’s solid financial base and Porsche’s independence will be preserved,” VW said.
Poetsch said the exact capital position of the families in the new company would depend on specific criteria that would be reviewed during the process of the merger. Stuttgart-based Porsche AG is currently VW’s biggest shareholder with about 52 percent.
Meanwhile, Poetsch said Qatar’s investment would be just below that of the state of Lower Saxony. Lower Saxony holds about 21 percent of VW and will maintain its long disputed blocking minority at the carmaker.
Poetsch said the negotiations between Porsche and Qatar for the purchase of Porsche’s stock options in VW were advanced, with a decision expected in coming weeks.
Bernd Osterloh, Volkswagen’s workers’ council chairman said on Friday that VW workers could invest in a stake in the new company of between 1 percent and 5 percent.
VW, Europe’s biggest car company by sales, and Porsche, famous the world around for its sports cars, said the new group would realize about 700 million euros in synergies yearly, as VW pursues its stated goal of becoming the world’s biggest automotive group.
Porsche will become the tenth brand at VW, joining the ranks of Audi, Bentley and Skoda. VW is also a major shareholder in two of the continent’s biggest truck makers: Scania AB of Sweden and MAN SE of Germany.
An extraordinary shareholder meeting at VW will be scheduled this year for the approval of the capital hike.
Shares of VW fell more than 15 percent on the news to 191.72 euros while shares of Porsche Automobil Holding SE rose more than 10 percent to 49.19 euros in Frankfurt afternoon trading.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
RSS