Volkswagen to take over Porsche – reports
July 20, 2009 by David Twomey
There’s probably no better example of how the best laid plans can go horribly wrong in an economic crisis than the attempt by Porsche to take over Europe’s largest car maker, Volkswagen AG.
It now seems more than likely that Volkswagen will, in fact, take over Porsche’s sports car business if reports by Reuters Newsagency are to be believed.
Reuters quotes reports in the German magazine Der Spiegel that the controlling families of Porsche Holdings SE will agree on Thursday to accept an offer by Volkswagen to buy its sports car business Porsche AG for roughly 8 billion euros (US$11.28 billion).
Germany’s leading weekly magazine wrote that the rival Porsche and Piech families, which own 100 per cent of Porsche SE votes, will approve the two-stage takeover at a supervisory board meeting on July 23.
Volkswagen would purchase a 49.9 percent stake in Porsche AG and at a later date acquire the rest, in a deal that would create an integrated automotive group with 10 brands under the leadership of the Wolfsburg-based carmaker.
The sale would help Porsche SE pay off most of its debt, which two sources told Reuters has ballooned to considerably more than 10 billion euros.
Der Spiegel also said embattled Porsche SE and Porsche AG CEO Wendelin Wiedeking, who lead the charge to take over VW, is negotiating over a severance package that could total more than 100 million euros.
In the meantime, Porsche production chief Michael Macht will replace him as head of Porsche AG, the magazine reported.
Last week, Mr Wiedeking rejected speculation he was about to leave the group.
Asked whether the two families have reached a decision for the July 23 board meeting, Porsche spokesman Anton Hunger said “we have not been informed of one,” adding that the Spiegel report was speculation that the company would not comment on.
Separately rival German weekly magazine Focus reported that Volkswagen’s powerful chairman and part owner of Porsche, Ferdinand Piech, plans to remove Mr Wiedeking on Thursday from the influential six-man steering committee on the VW supervisory board.
The vacancy could open up the opportunity for Mr Piech’s cousin and rival, Wolfgang Porsche, VW supervisory board member and Porsche SE chairman, to replace Mr Wiedeking in the committee as a representative of his side of the family.
The grandfather of Wolfgang Porsche and Ferdinand Piech was Ferdinand Porsche, designer of the VW Beetle and founder of Volkswagen.
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Well, talk about a turnaround of tables!
I wonder how much difference there will be in the end result, as far as consumers are concerned?
There will now be one company making VWs and Porches, whereas in the other (now failed) scenario there would have been one company making Porches and VWs.
Seems like a gigantic family feud with swings and roundabouts…..
As long as its Germans for Germans….
Talk about backfiring!
Porsche was trying to buy VW, now its turned the other way around.
Current CEO, just like the ex-GM dude, stuffs it all up yet walks away with millions…..
I think the *real* reason for firing them all up is that the Germans DON’T want any arab ownership, as you would…
Cheers
F-0
does this mean we’re gonna get twin charged boxer engins… i’d like to see that
@Yanzo
You’re probably right,because VW over the years have “borrowed” a substantial amount of technology from the car companies it has taken over.
That’s why I have little respect for VW.
QwkEddie Thats what happens when you buy out a company. You do it so you can get access to their technology. Why else would VW buy all the smartest companies.
Shak:
Too true man, too true!
Go VW, I hope they achieve number one sales and make Toyota piss off (I really loathe Toyota I’m sorry). When Porsche announced plans to buy VW I wasn’t happy (knowing that my car, as well as all other VW Group cars would have built buy a company owned by a much smaller one) and I was so suprised that such a small company wanted to buy such a big one.
But now, the tables have turned for Porsche. Doesn’t this whole fiasco involve the related Porsche and VW families? Aren’t they having a tiff and have been for years?
Keep taking over the world VW, your tech/ideas cannot be missed (like cars that achieve similar greeness to the stupid Prius yet cost much less to develop and buy too)!
As much as I like Porsche to be independent, its not all bad news. Piech is a master engineer and was responsible for the Bugatti Veyron, Porsche 959, 917, the original Audi quattro and may other landmark cars. Hopefully he will allow Porsche to do what it does best and continue to build awesome performance cars.
No disrespect to Wiedeking, if it was not for him there would be no Porsche but there is a silver lining to this dark cloud for Porsche
This is great news. I would much rather see those two companies stay in German hands than be bought out by a bunch of Arab dictators.
Volkswagen would have to be my fave car group, because it owns all my favourite companies: Bentley, Skoda and SEAT.
FrugalOne has nailed it….Two very old German companies with a lot of pride and both CEO with a long running ego fued.
How could Porsche seriously take over VW as they cant even raise enough capital from their lending partners to fund future program developments etc.
Shane “As much as I like Porsche to be independent”
They cannot be independent anymore, there are whole of car marker CO2 restrictions in place soon which means Porsche could not remain is business. Their thirsty cars have to be part of a bigger maker to “dilute” the CO2 across many smaller cars. Hence VW.
Either way it means the possibility of a Golf GTi with the engine brakes suspension and AWD system from a Porsche Carrera [and obligatory flared guards etc] – which could then become a rival to the Evo vs WRX..
Afterall VW created an awesome AWD Golf GTi Concept Car a couple of years ago using a W12 – whereas the Porsche engine would provide just as much power and be more user friendly
Wheelnut. That’s an idea!, although I think the concept wasn’t VW’s, nor was it very usable, none the less, take the best and mix it all up a little to put some fire under some of their competitors. (eg. Audi, which seems to be having it all together right now.)
How dramatic the tables have turned in VW’s favour. Now the big fish is gobbling up the smaller fish. Welcome to Darwinism.
It used to be that Audi. Porsche and Volkswagen where all the same company. Can anybody give a quick listing of what hapened since the seventies?