It’s official: Porsche is Volkswagen’s majority shareholder

On Monday Porsche increased its stake in Volkswagen AG to 50.76 per cent, after securing a deal to purchase more ordinary voting shares.

Porsche wanted to reach majority shareholder status before Christmas. Unsurprisingly, the delicate and sometimes acrimonious negotiations between the two companies took Porsche past their deadline.

Despite owning over half the shares, German law still stands in the way of Porsche having a controlling interest over Volkswagen. To do that, according to law, a company usually requires 75 per cent of a company’s stock. Although, further frustrating Porsche, is the Lower-Saxony ruling that requires an 80 per cent stake in Volkswagen to gain a controlling share. Porsche has unsucessfully challenged this ruling.

The Lower-Saxony government owns 20.1 per cent of Volkswagen stock.

Press release

Porsche Automobil Holding SE – On this Monday, Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Stuttgart, purchased further ordinary shares in Volkswagen AG, Wolfsburg, and will increase its holding to 50.76 per cent of all ordinary voting shares in Volkswagen. As a result of passing the threshold of 50 per cent Porsche will acquire indirect control over Scania AB, Södertälje, and is required by Swedish law to launch a mandatory offer for the truck manufacturer. The Stuttgart-domiciled company is not bound by pre-acquisition prices and is only obliged to offer the minimum price prescribed by law. The minimum price will be calculated on the basis of the volume weighted average stock exchange price of the Scania shares during the 20 trading days prior to publication of the acquisition of the majority in Volkswagen. Porsche points out that it has no strategic interest in Scania and is not interested in acquiring Scania shares.

Source: WorldCarFans