Porsche has announced they have acquired a further 4.89 percent of the Volkswagen ordinary shares today, confirming a controlling majority of which VW now becomes a subsidiary of Porsche Automobil Holding SE.
Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking, Chief Executive Officer of Porsche, said: “Our goal continues to be to increase our stake in Volkswagen to more than 50 per cent. Today’s step is a further milestone along this road.” He added: “We look forward to continuing and intensifying our cooperation with the Managing Board of Volkswagen, which is based on a spirit of mutual trust, and are hoping for a quick resolution of the conflict between the employee representatives of Porsche and VW.”
Simultaneously, as requirement by German law, Porsche is obligated to make a compulsory offer for VW subsidiary, Audi AG. Dr. Wiedeking commented: “We regard Audi as an integral part of the Volkswagen group and have no interest in removing the company from the group structure.”
Stuttgart. Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Stuttgart, acquired a further 4.89 per cent of the Volkswagen ordinary shares on Tuesday, 16 September. As a result, the total stake in the Wolfsburg-based car manufacturer now amounts to 35.14 per cent of the voting rights. This step ensures that Porsche has a lasting majority at the VW annual general meeting. Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking, Chief Executive Officer of Porsche, said: “Our goal continues to be to increase our stake in Volkswagen to more than 50 per cent. Today’s step is a further milestone along this road.” He added: “We look forward to continuing and intensifying our cooperation with the Managing Board of Volkswagen, which is based on a spirit of mutual trust, and are hoping for a quick resolution of the conflict between the employee representatives of Porsche and VW.”
By going above 35 per cent of the voting rights, Porsche will acquire de facto control of the Wolfsburg-based group. As a result, employee representatives of Volkswagen will now take seats in the Works Council of Porsche SE and the Supervisory Board of Porsche SE. The Works Council of Porsche SE will be informed about the increase of the stake and will be asked to reconstitute itself. Dr. Wiedeking was confident that the cooperation between the employee representatives of Porsche and Volkswagen in both bodies – Works Council and Supervisory Board – would help them develop a better understanding of each other’s positions and would lead to a constructive and forward-looking co-existence.
As a result of the new shareholder structure, Porsche is required by law to submit a formal mandatory offer for the VW subsidiary Audi AG, Ingolstadt. The relevant offer documents must be filed with the German Federal Agency for Financial Services Supervision (BaFin) within the next four weeks and, once cleared, can be found on the website of Porsche SE at http://www.Porsche-SE.com. This formality is a statutory requirement and has no effect whatsoever on the intentions of Porsche. Dr. Wiedeking commented: “We regard Audi as an integral part of the Volkswagen group and have no interest in removing the company from the group structure.“
In light of this, Porsche will only offer the minimum price prescribed by law for the shares, which is expected to be about 487 Euro per Audi share. Volkswagen has stated that it will not be accepting the offer for its 99.14 per cent of the Audi shares. In practice, therefore, the mandatory offer only relates to a freefloat of 0.86 per cent, representing approximately 370,000 Audi shares. Based on last Monday’s closing price, these are valued at approximately 170 million Euro. Porsche does not intend to acquire Audi shares outside the mandatory offer.
On 3 March 2008 the Supervisory Board of Porsche SE had given the go-ahead for an increase of the VW stake to more than 50 per cent. All steps needed under regulatory and antitrust laws in order to acquire a majority stake in Volkswagen were then initiated. Following discussions with the EU Commission, Porsche extended its filing with the European antitrust authorities to cover agreements for the acquisition of 4.89 per cent of the VW ordinary shares, delivery of which took place today. Porsche expects the antitrust and regulatory proceedings that are still pending to be completed in the coming weeks. The further increase of the stake in Volkswagen is expected to take place in the next months.
It was about time Porsche took control, i hope that now they will let the other brands in the group develop technology for themselves with out sharing it, individuality is whats make a brand outstand among others.
thats the whole point of a group, that you share technology and reduce costs. yes they can indivdiually develop technology but you can bet that it will have to be shared. i couldnt care less about vw to be honest. whod want to control a terminally dull company devoid of any design flair whatsoever. "new" golf any one? thought not!
Your missing the whole concept of simple by design, I personally prefer the simpler cleaner look of a VW over the an overly tacky and cluttered design of an Acura.
thats the whole point of a group, that you share technology and reduce costs. yes they can indivdiually develop technology but you can bet that it will have to be shared. i couldnt care less about vw to be honest. whod want to control a terminally dull company devoid of any design flair whatsoever. "new" golf any one? thought not.
no mate. that doesnt wash. its dull. zero style, no flair, and devoid of design delights. plus they arent even as reliable as they wish people to percieve. the japanese have nothing to fear.
not stating anything about reliability if thats what your after, get a corolla, the japs have never been beaten in that category. but as for looks and style you claim VW has no style. i strongly disagree, what Jap car can you buy with a fit and finish of a VW anywhere close to that price. when you ride in a 18K VW its feels Eons away than riding in a 35k nissan, mazda, honda etc. VW shows alot more classy style than a jap spec
that is not good. porsche mainly focus cars on speed, handeling and as much power as they can in an engine.(not too great, to be honest). and vw think about thier cars, not toss some power in for no reason. discrasse, dont like it, not one bit
by great_supercars255 | September 16, 2008 7:10 PM
If half you lot actually read whats happening here it could solve alot of arguments , they have only a stake in the company , porsche have always had a hand in vw and audi - vice versa they only own a few more percentage now .
how come porsche claims that they now control VW, when they had 22 or 26%, plus the current 4.89 ..that means 27-30%. as far as i know you can say that you control something when you have at least 51% of that something. and they are quite far from those 51%. and another thing; they have 30% of VW but they have their engines. in the panamera, in the cayenne..what's next? and porsches goal is that magic 50%+...then what, they're gonna use VWs chassis? god damn these porsche guys are smart... motherf*ckers. i dont know why VW is even putting up with this s*it.
the article is stating that Porsche now controls the largerst group of shares. Therefore there opinion has more sway in company decisions then any other group. Such positions are also referred to as controlling positions.
Besides why are you so mad ? Porsche has been partnered with VW for 50 years almost...nothing has changed really, they'll still both make money and still offer very good products. Slow Your Roll.
im not really mad... i just dont want VW to become an expensive brand. i really like their cars but i dont want if porsche will own a big amount of the shares, to fiddle with the price too. anyhow....
Fair enough, they shouldn't try to go too up market, you're right. I would think though given Porsche being where it is in the market place and being smart with money and also knowing that many of Audis lower offerings share the same chassis/engines as VW will make them want to maintain VW as a peoples car, a high quality peoples car but fair prices none the less. I could be wrong, but i wouldn't think so.
Porsche have the biggest say in matters now, but still can't control the whole group all by themselves. Once they gain 51% of the shares they then can.
The idea is to make money for the Porsche company. so if they do not share parts anymore within the VW group, they would not make as much profits as they are now, which does not make sense. So don't count on it. audi will still use VW parts and tech, and market themselves as a premium brand like BMW, which is a pity and wishful thinking.
I knew this was coming for a while, IMO its very suiting, Porsche should be on top not just because of who they are but before they were ever a car company, they were a Money Advisory firm(consulting, investments and all that).
IMO the greatest car group in the world now... Volkswagen manufacturing is one of THE best in the world bar none. Don't follow the hype behind branding, VW manufacturing quality is exceptional.
With the Porsche business acumen and hedge fund management I think the VW group will be the largest manufacturer in the world, shortly overtaking GM then Toyota. They've already over taken Ford this year.
Lets just hope that Porsche don't dull down whats coming out of Audi in order to styfle the competition.
Great, this is bad... Audi is going to be dumbed down. The R8 will be discontinued, the upcoming "R4" will never even be made, and the RS models will suffer. Not to mention Porsche will want to sell off Lamborghini... Just when Audi was starting to become something amazing, Porsche has to come in and start ruining it. I don't Audi to turn into Mercedes-Benz...
it´s obviously better for Porsche than for VW but Porsche won`t influence any VW or Audi model range that sells good cause they directly profit from it. Porsche has less costs and VW has a strong partner that protects the Volkswagen group from hostile acquisition. maybe they have a bit of trouble and disagreements at the moments but in general it will be good for all 3 brands in the future.
I wish Audi and Lamborghini went off on their own or maybe go off with Porsche, because for some reason I just don't like Volkswagen, and I don't like the fact that Audi shares with VW either.
I guess its coming a whole circle.. Ferdinand Porsche n Adolf Hitler start off the concept, then lose the war.. n n the Porsche's r now back owning which they conceptualised..
Rather than rocket science, it's a natural progression that Porsche now controls VW; remember James Dean's 356 Spyder and the VW Karmann equivalent in the '60s? German car companies have always been powerful and immune to hostile takeovers as they collaborate by sharing (or copying) technologies, design and platforms eg. recent Cayenne and Touareg SUVs and Mercedes CLS/VW Passat CC.
However, the biggest problem for Porsche is separating Audi from VW as there's now a design and component overlap between both brands. Furthermore, Porsche/Audi relationship will become more strained as Lamborghini is a major rival to new owners. Ferdinand Piech, (member of Porsche board of Directors, ex VW boss and Ferdinand Porsche's grandson) is largely responsible for brokering this massive deal. Therefore, he should help with significant solutions to the operating problems ahead.
Positively, I envision a return to Formula 1 for Porsche with extra cash coming from their latest acquisition.
