Volkswagen Says Porsche Listing Is on Track as Planned Porsche has secured pre-orders that exceed the shares on offer. Source: Porsche Christoph Rauwald September 5, 2022, 7:17 AM UTCUpdated onSeptember 5, 2022, 11:22 AM UTC (Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG said the planned initial public offering of Porsche is on track even as global markets face deep turmoil amid a worsening energy crisis in Europe. “Things are progressing according to plan,” Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz said in a statement published on VW’s corporate intranet Monday. “The possible proceeds would give us more flexibility to further accelerate the transformation,” said Antlitz, who has closely worked on the preparation of what is set to be one of Europe’s biggest share sales ever. While a listing of Porsche would help direct funds to VW’s ambitious plans on rolling out electric cars and software investments, the IPO is up against some of the worst market conditions in years. VW officially started preparing for a listing of its most prized asset in February, just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roiled markets and triggered an energy crisis in Europe. The carmaker’s management and supervisory boards will discuss Monday if the company should go ahead with the offering at the end of September or early October amid upheaval in equity and commodity markets. While a slowing economy, rampant inflation and surging energy costs have largely brought public listings to a standstill, a sale would give direct influence over the iconic automaker back to the Porsche-Piech family, which are major VW shareholders. The billionaire clan in 2009 lost out to VW following an acrimonious saga where the smaller Porsche first sought to buy the much bigger company, only for its target to turn the tables and buy the maker of the 911 sportscar. Under the current IPO plan, the family’s investment company Porsche Automobil Holding SE would emerge with a blocking minority stake of 25% plus one share. Despite the market turmoil, Porsche has lined up investor interest for its IPO at a valuation of as much as $85 billion, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News last month. The maker of the electric Taycan has secured pre-orders that exceed the shares on offer at a valuation between 60 billion and 85 billion euros ($85 billion), said the people, who asked not to be identified because discussions are private. Big-name investors including T Rowe Price Group Inc. and Qatar Investment Authority have already indicated interest in subscribing to the IPO in that valuation range, the people said. Porsche has also been gaging interest from billionaires including the founder of energy drink maker Red Bull, Dietrich Mateschitz, as well as LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault, according to the people. Antlitz has taken on the additional role of chief operating officer following Porsche chief Oliver Blume becoming VW chief executive officer this month after the ouster of Herbert Diess.
Porsche History 1931 Ferdinand Porsche opens a design office, the first stage of a business that will later become the eponymous sports car maker. 1938 Porsche, who designed the first VW Beetle, oversees the building of the first production hall for Volkswagen. 1960 State-owned Volkswagen is privatised, with both the federal government and the company's home state of Lower Saxony receiving a 20% stake. 1993 Ferdinands Porsche's grandson Ferdinand Piech becomes chief executive of Volkswagen, meaning "the people's car" in German. His revolutionary "platform strategy", which involves using the same basic design for different models and adding bespoke components on top, allowed economies of scale and was credited with saving the company from possible collapse. 2002 Piech appoints Bernd Pischetsrieder as his successor as CEO and Piech becomes Volkswagen's chairman, a position he will hold until 2015. 2005 September - Porsche says it plans to buy a 20% stake in VW and later emerges with a 10.3% voting stake. November - Porsche's supervisory board authorises an increase in the stake to 29.9%, triggering speculation it plans to gain majority control. 2007 April - Porsche submits a mandatory takeover offer for Volkswagen after crossing 30% threshold. 2008 March - Porsche SE's supervisory board gives the go-ahead to raise its Volkswagen voting stake to over 50%. October - Porsche SE says it holds stock and options that give it control of 74% of Volkswagen's votes and announces plans for a "domination" agreement. A resulting scramble for Volkswagen shares by shortsellers caught out by the announcement briefly makes VW the world's most valuable company. 2009 January - Porsche SE says it has raised its VW voting stake to 50.8% and confirms its plan to raise stake to 75% later if conditions allow. May - Porsche SE drops the Volkswagen takeover plan and says it will instead pursue a merger with Europe's largest auto maker. Volkswagen Chairman Piech says Porsche must get its 9 billion euro debt under control before any deal can be agreed. July - Porsche SE Chairman Wolfgang Porsche, Piech's cousin, calls an extraordinary supervisory board meeting for July 23 to discuss a possible sale of a stake in Porsche SE to Qatar worth over 5 billion euros. A proposal by Porsche's board to prepare for a capital increase of at least 5 billion euros ($5 billion) in cash and/or a contribution in kind, is approved by the supervisory board, setting the stage for a merger with Volkswagen. Porsche SE Wendelin Wiedeking steps down. December - Volkswagen says it has bought 49.9% of Porsche SE's sports car business Porsche AG at a cost of 3.9 billion euros. 2010 January - A group of investment funds sues Porsche SE and two of its former top executives, accusing them of fraud in a "short squeeze" that caused the funds to lose more than $1 billion from Porsche's attempted takeover of Volkswagen AG in 2008. April - Elliott Associates, L.P. says the securities fraud and manipulation lawsuit against Porsche SE has got bigger, that it is seeking more than $2 billion in losses and 18 investment funds have joined the lawsuit. October - Auto holding Porsche SE says it may not be absorbed into Volkswagen by the end of 2011, as planned, due to some unresolved legal and tax issues related to the deal, the CEO of both companies, Martin Winterkorn, says. 2012 July - Volkswagen agrees to buy the remaining 50.1% stake in Porsche AG from Porsche SE for about 4.5 billion euros. Porsche AG, the carmaker, is now fully owned by Volkswagen AG, while Porsche SE, which is controlled by the Porsche and Piech families, is Volkswagen's largest shareholder and holds a majority of voting rights. 2022 February - Volkswagen and Porsche SE say they are examining a possible initial public offering of Porsche AG, under a proposed structure that would give Porsche SE a blocking minority in the eponymous carmaker. September - Volkswagen announces its intention to list Porsche at the end of September or early October.
I don't think so. They may have laid low... WW2 probably left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Westerners I would guess. I know Grandma VZ wouldn't be caught dead in a German car. Or a Toyota for that matter. Porsche 1950 - Models That Changed The World 1958 Porsche 356 1600 Roadster Who remembers the VW Karmen Ghia? Looks just like it. I always said when they brought back the Beetle (when the automakers' retro models were all the rage) VW should have brought the KG convertible back too. Dumb.
I called my local dealer about a new 911 targa with a manual. They said the waitlist is 6 years! I wondered if my 9yo daughter wanted a quinceanera present.