I understand that Porsche is seriously considering an IPO, the rumour has been circling for months, but now it seems matters may have moved up a gear.
The Volkswagen Group is looking for ways to fund its costly shift towards electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles. If the IPO is a success, some forecast the sports car maker could be valued at £75 million.
Currently, there is a very complex stakeholder situation, which needs to be addressed and simplified. German business newspaper Handelsblatt recently reported that the Porsche and Piëch families, who control VW Group’s largest shareholder, Porsche Automobil Holding SE, consider selling a portion of their VW holdings to fund a substantial stake purchase in the possible Porsche IPO.
According to Handelsblatt, the German newspaper, the families, who own 31.4% of Volkswagen shares and have 53.3% of voting rights via Porsche SE, could sell enough shares to raise roughly 15 billion euros, the German newspaper said.
They would remain the largest shareholder in Volkswagen, ahead of the state of Lower Saxony, which holds an 11.8% equity stake and 20% of voting rights.
Watch this space.