Porsche/VW Saga

[rev]

Re: Porsche on verge of VW takeover

Porsche predicted to take 75% stake in VW

With Porsche finally confirming last week that it will increase its stake in VW from the current 31% to a majority holding, the only question remaining is how much of VW does Porsche intend on acquiring. For a majority stake Porsche would only need to purchase 50% plus one share of VW but analysts are predicting it could acquire as much as 75% as this would also allow Porsche to benefit more from VW’s profits and cash flows under what’s known as a ‘domination and profit transfer agreement’.

A report in Germany’s Focus magazine claims Porsche will raise its stake in VW to 75% in order to approve a domination agreement at a shareholder meeting, and that current Porsche execs Wolfgang Porsche and Hans Michel Piech will sit on the new VW board.
Standing in Porsche’s way is the German state of Lower Saxony, which still holds a 20% stake in VW. The council is concerned about VW’s 82,000 German employees and plans to keep all of its shares. Unless Porsche can broker some sought of deal safeguarding the jobs it’s unlikely the Lower Saxony government will agree to Porsche increasing its holding to the domination agreement levels.
Meanwhile, the Porsche family has allegedly increased its stake in Porsche’s holding company to 61.9% from 53.7%, while the Piech family has reduced its stake to 38.1% from 46.3%. Der Spiegel reports that Ferdinand Piech was forced to step down from the four-man Porsche board and will instead sit on the supervisory board of Audi as a result of the latest transaction.


Source: Motor Authority Porsche predicted to take 75% stake in VW

 

[warot]

Re: Porsche on verge of VW takeover

OK just so someone clears this up. If Porsche takes over 75% of VW, what does it mean for the other brands? Would they own 75% of Audi too?

If that goes through, something tells me that BMW and MB better get together and come up with something as well.

 

[Bartek S.]

Re: Porsche on verge of VW takeover

Update: Porsche denies 75% stake in VW

Updated: Porsche has released an official statement denying claims made by German media that it was planning to acquire up to 75% of Volkswagen’s shares. The statement said: “The speculation about going up to 75 percent does not consider the realities of VW’s shareholder structure. In view of the fact that the German Federal State of Lower Saxony, as the second major shareholder, holds a stake of more than 20 percent in Volkswagen, the probability of acquiring the necessary shares from the remaining freefloat is very small indeed.”

Original: With Porsche finally confirming last week that it will increase its stake in VW from the current 31% to a majority holding, the only question remaining is how much of VW does Porsche intend on acquiring. For a majority stake Porsche would only need to purchase 50% plus one share of VW but analysts are predicting it could acquire as much as 75% as this would also allow Porsche to benefit more from VW’s profits and cash flows under what’s known as a ‘domination and profit transfer agreement’.
A report in Germany’s Focus magazine claims Porsche will raise its stake in VW to 75% in order to approve a domination agreement at a shareholder meeting, and that current Porsche execs Wolfgang Porsche and Hans Michel Piech will sit on the new VW board.
Standing in Porsche’s way is the German state of Lower Saxony, which still holds a 20% stake in VW. The council is concerned about VW’s 82,000 German employees and plans to keep all of its shares. Unless Porsche can broker some sort of deal safeguarding the jobs it’s unlikely the Lower Saxony government will agree to Porsche increasing its holding to the domination agreement levels.
Meanwhile, the Porsche family has allegedly increased its stake in Porsche’s holding company to 61.9% from 53.7%, while the Piech family has reduced its stake to 38.1% from 46.3%. Der Spiegel reports that Ferdinand Piech was forced to step down from the four-man Porsche board and will instead sit on the supervisory board of Audi as a result of the latest transaction.

 

[Bartek S.]

Re: Porsche on verge of VW takeover

Wolfgang Porsche joins VW board

Porsche has been in the news quite a bit over the past few weeks. While one hand is embroiled in an emissions tax battle with Mayor of London, the other hand is slowly scooping up shares of Volkswagen.

In related news, Porsche Chairman Wolfgang Porsche was nominated today to the Volkswagen supervisory board. This move may help fuel the fire that Porsche is aggressively pursuing a larger piece of Volkswagen than it publicly admits, but VW's board is astute. When it added Porsche to the Board, it also invited Lower Saxony Prime Minister Christian Wulff and his finance minister back for another term. Lower Saxony is the second largest shareholder at Volkswagen these days. With 82,000 VW jobs in their state, the region's veto power is significant to all involved, especially Porsche, which would have to square off against Lower Saxony's veto vote in a bid to fully take control of Volkswagen.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/13/wolfgang-porsche-joins-vw-board/

 

[PanterroR]

Germany approves new Volkswagen Law

Porsche didn't win... this round. The German cabinet approved amendments to the Volkswagen Law yesterday, but lawmakers left Porsche's key clause untouched. For those of you who haven't been following this saga, "Volkswagen Law" is the legislation that includes a provision to allow the federal state of Lower Saxony to keep a blocking minority vote in Volkswagen. That minority position is just 20 percent, exactly the amount currently held by Lower Saxony. With Porsche gobbling up shares in VW, intent on capturing a majority position so they can control plant closures, and Lower Saxony determined to protect thousands of jobs in their state... rest assured we haven't heard the last of this.


Source: Germany approves new Volkswagen Law - Autoblog

 

[far2000]

Porsche readies VW takeover

Porsche readies VW takeover

29/05/2008 15:42



German sportscar maker Porsche wants to increase its stake in Volkswagen from 31 percent to a majority in September or possibly even in August, an industry source said on Thursday.
Porsche had already said that it wanted to hike its interest in Europe's biggest carmaker but had not said when the operation would take place. The company announced on Thursday it would do so "this year."
The EU's competition watchdog is due to rule by June 18 whether to authorise Porsche's bid to take a majority stake in Volkswagen and bring both companies under one holding company.
Brussels has declared illegal a clause in VW's statutes that gives the state of Lower Saxony with a 20.1% stake a de-facto veto right on major company decisions. Such decisions need approval by 80 percent of shareholders.
The German cabinet this week backed a new bill it said addressed some of Brussels's concerns but which leaves intact Lower Saxony's blocking minority, which Porsche has also protested about. The head of Porsche's supervisory board, Wolfgang Porsche, told monthly Manager Magazin in an interview published Thursday that there was "a lot to do" to improve VW's operations, in particular its distribution network.

 

[PanterroR]

VW CEO threatens resignation if Porsche interferes with the company



Porsche’s slowly tightening grip on Volkswagen is causing some ruffled feathers among upper management. Porsche is on the verge of increasing its stake beyond 50% in Europe’s largest carmaker and is expected to flex its muscles by controlling everything from product development to labor negotiations. However, the CEO of VW, Martin Winterkorn, is fighting back and has said in an interview that he will resign his post if Porsche interferes with his company’s operations.

One of the biggest fears for Volkswagen is that Porsche may limit Audi’s model range to prevent competition with its own range of sports cars, SUVs and (soon to be available) sedan. According to a German report in Der Spiegel, one Audi insider has said that Porsche is already criticizing the company for its R8 sports car and Q7 SUV. In the future, the insider claims, Porsche may limit the price bracket of Audi vehicles to ensure they don’t compete, however this would damage Audi’s ability to compete with BMW & Mercedes who are both pushing their brands in to higher – and lower – market segments.

Previously Porsche has also stated that ‘fun projects’ such as the Bugatti Veyron would need to be canceled if they were not capable of making a profit. Both Lamborghini and Bentley are currently profitable so they should be safe, however a slide in sales could potentially mean VW would be forced to sell them off at the behest of its largest shareholder.

Winterkorn has also stated he’s worried about the welfare of Volkswagen workers. Porsche is known to push efficiency at all costs, however Winterkorn said the workers must be treated with “appreciation.”
The rivalry between VW and Porsche’s management teams has taken some strange turns in recent times with Volkswagen being accused of spying on Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking using a baby monitor.

 

[Deleted member 25]

I thought winterkorn was one of porsche 's allies ?

 

[PanterroR]

Porsche is not giving up on VW takeover; files request with EU again



According to the European Commission, Porsche is fighting the controversial ‘VW Law’ in its long-standing attempts to acquire controlling interest in Volkswagen. At the end of May, the court ruled in favor of VW, blocking Porsche from buying VW.

This gives context to comments made by the sports car makers CEO, Wendelin Wiedeking, since then, regarding having talks with VW once controlling interest is gained.

As a result of the re-filing with Brussels’ competition regulators, the deadline for the EU executive’s competition review of the deal has been moved back to July 23 from today, as per the Automotive News.

Back in March, Porsche’s board authorized the purchase of a majority stake of Germany’s biggest automaker that would total the equivalent of about $15.5 billion.

 

[Cashmere]

its all out warfare!

 

[Bartek S.]

Updated: EU approves Porsche takeover of Volkswagen


Updated: The European Commission has finally given permission for Porsche to acquire control of the Volkswagen Group, something the German sports carmaker previously confirmed it would do before the end of the year. Porsche’s supervisory body authorized the purchase of a majority stake in Volkswagen, about $15.73 billion worth of shares, as far back as March. This would take Porsche’s current holding of about 31% beyond the 50% mark, giving it control of the entire Volkswagen Group.

The German state of Lower Saxony, however, VW’s second-biggest shareholder with around 20% of voting rights, said it plans to keep its stake. This means that decisions made by Porsche, even with a controlling stake, could be blocked by the state.
Original: Porsche has released a statement announcing plans to increase its stake in Volkswagen Group to more than 50% by the end of the year. Porsche’s current shareholding remains at 31% but an increase beyond 50% would effectively give it control of the German giant.
The statement said the goal is also for Porsche and Volkswagen to continue on the path of growth under the holding company Porsche Automobil Holding but to also retain their independence. “Porsche will also remain Porsche in the future. And Volkswagen will also remain Volkswagen. That is the success formula,” Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking said in the statement.
There remains fears that sports car programs from Audi, Bentley and Bugatti that could potentially compete with Porsche’s sports cars could be canceled once the Stuttgart-based carmaker takes control, reports Automotive News.
The announcement comes less than a week after Germany approved a revised version of its 48-year old VW Law, which mandates that any major strategic decisions within VW would still have to be approved by just over 80% of shareholders. This means that decisions made by Porsche, even with a controlling stake, could be blocked by the German state of Lower Saxony, which still holds 20% of VW.
motorauthority

 

[Bartek S.]

Re: Updated: EU approves Porsche takeover of Volkswagen

Porsche-VW tensions heightening as takeover nears



Two of Germany’s most important carmakers are at odds over who will control day-to-day operations once a planned stock acquisition is completed.
Volkswagen is calling on Porsche to make it clear that it won’t interfere with VW’s daily operations once it becomes the auto giant’s largest shareholder, but Porsche is reluctant to relinquish influence before it’s even acquired.
The power struggles between the two companies are already underway. Tensions have been building for nearly two years, since speculation about Porsche’s intent to acquire a majority interest in VW began to mount. VW’s CEO Martin Winterkorn has even threatened to resign if the Porsche takeover moves forward.

Once movement toward that goal was underway, a number of scandals including a spy incident involving a baby monitor have stepped up the level of concern in both camps. To date the two companies have reached no formal agreement on how power will be shared or which directors and executives will have final control.
Synergies between the two companies already exist, with VW facilities producing chassis, bodies and other components for the current Cayenne and future 2010 Panamera. Porsche isn’t entirely happy with the arrangement, however, due to what it perceives as substandard quality in early Panamera bodies. VW is quick to counter with the defense that the current run is still ‘practice’ and that the final production examples will be top-notch, reports Automotive News Europe.
Tensions aren’t building solely at the executive level, either. Union workers are nervous that Porsche’s takeover could mean lower wages and massive job cuts. IG Metall, a German union that represents about 90% of VW’s workers, is already in the midst of a dispute with Porcshe CEO Wendelin Wiedeking over the luxury sport car maker’s desire to have an equal number of staff representatives to VW in the holding company that will be used to purchase the VW shares - despite the fact that VW employs about 20 times more workers than Porsche.
The German state of Lower Saxony has made clear its intent to hang onto a 20% minority stake to defend the interests of its workers and the VW factories within its borders. Thanks to a law known as ‘the VW law’ that 20% interest allows the state to block action by a simple majority shareholder in certain circumstances.
motorauthority

 

[Tarek]

Re: Updated: EU approves Porsche takeover of Volkswagen

One of the most interesting take overs i've ever seen.

 

[Family Guy]

Re: Updated: EU approves Porsche takeover of Volkswagen

I thought it would be the other way around.

 

[rev]

Re: Updated: EU approves Porsche takeover of Volkswagen

So is "Volkswagen Group" going to be called "Porsche Automobil Holding"?

 

[warot]

Re: Updated: EU approves Porsche takeover of Volkswagen

haven't really been following this too closely. So what happens to Audi, Lambo, Bently ect... are they affected?

 

[bmer]

Re: Updated: EU approves Porsche takeover of Volkswagen

I thought Winterkorn was Piech's man for the job, or was the resignation threat just a great act from Winterkorn?

 

[Bartek S.]

Re: Updated: EU approves Porsche takeover of Volkswagen

Report: Porsche planning coup to remove Piëch from VW

Two of Germany’s most important carmakers are at odds over who will control day-to-day operations once a planned stock acquisition is completed.
Just over a week ago, Volkswagen called on Porsche to make it clear that it wouldn’t interfere with VW’s daily operations once it becomes the auto giant’s largest shareholder, and VW chairman Ferdinand Piëch broke ranks with his Porsche-family cousins to side with VW. Now the latest reports claim that a coup is brewing in Stuttgart, and Piëch is the target.
The power struggles between the two companies have been underway and tensions have been building for nearly two years, ever since speculation about Porsche’s intent to acquire a majority interest in VW began to mount. VW’s CEO Martin Winterkorn has even threatened to resign if the Porsche takeover moves forward.
(more…)

 

[Giannis]

Re: Updated: EU approves Porsche takeover of Volkswagen

Why should Piech get his arse kicked? I don't get that...

 

[Centurion]

Re: Updated: EU approves Porsche takeover of Volkswagen

These guys are the highest paid people in the automotive industry yet they've got egos the size of a yoga ball. Can't they just get along??