BERLIN (Reuters) – Volkswagen’s largest shareholder, Porsche SE, supports Volkswagen’s proposed plan for an IPO of luxury sportscar maker Porsche AG, the holding company said on Tuesday, adding no final decision had been made.
The plan, proposed by Volkswagen in February, includes selling 25% plus 1 ordinary share in the carmaker to Porsche SE as well as listing up to 25% of Porsche AG’s preferred stock, and paying out 49% of IPO proceeds to Volkswagen’s shareholders.
“Porsche SE thereby supports the plans of Volkswagen AG to expand its financial flexibility and accelerate the technological transformation of the group,” Porsche SE said in a statement reporting its annual results.
“Due to the leading positioning of Porsche AG in the sport and luxury segment, this attractive investment would diversify our portfolio and our dividend inflows,” added finance and IT chief Johannes Lattwein.
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, which is controlled by the Porsche and Piech families and holds a 31.4% equity stake in Volkswagen, reported a group result after tax of 4.6 billion euros ($5.06 billion)in 2021.
It forecast group results after tax in 2022 between 4.1 billion and 6.1 billion euros, not including the impact of a possible Porsche IPO.
($1 = 0.9099 euros)
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee, Editing by Miranda Murray)
