Sports Car Forum - MotorWorld.net - Porsche boss Wiedeking kicked out, VW-Porsche merger will happen

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Porsche officially becomes a VW brand, in $17 bil. debt

Quote:

Two of Germany's most important carmakers are at odds over who will control day-to-day operations once a planned stock acquisition is completed. Volkswagen has been fearing its imminent takeover from Porsche for some time now, with even the carmaker’s usually stoic CEO, Martin Winterkorn, previously threatening to resign if Porsche interferes too much with the daily running of Germany’s largest carmaker. But while Porsche's acquisition of over 75% of VW seems inevitable, one analyst is predicting that VW will come out on top in the end and could potentially absorb Porsche in the long run.

Speaking at a recent press event in Germany, Arndt Ellinghorst predicted that even though Porsche may technically acquire VW, it will be VW that will be in charge, resulting in a "reverse takeover" of sorts. Ellinghorst, a Credit Suisse employee, is claiming that while Porsche may be the owner of VW soon enough, the sheer size and importance of VW's operations supersedes any machinations that Porsche may have once it takes over, reports Automotive News Europe.

Furthermore, Ellinghorst predicted rather unequivocally that "Porsche will be a brand in the VW Group" due to its expected reliance on VW for increasing production capacity, and research and development. If his predictions are correct, then it appears there may have been much ado about nothing from the VW camp in regards to the Porsche takeover. Nevertheless, the German state of Lower Saxony, which owns a 20% stake in Volkswagen, remains wary of Porsche's intentions for VW.

Currently, Porsche holds almost 43% of VW's voting shares, however, in reality the Stuttgart-based sports carmaker has indirect control of around 74% of the VW Group due to non-voting shares that amount to an additional 31.5%.

http://www.motorauthority.com/analys...he-and-vw.html

This whole thing is wierd.

Porsche is making a lot of money and is a takeover target. I agree it is important for them to be independent and not a part of GM. So they are buying Volkswagon stock to put the money somewhere, so GM can't get it.

This is causing the price of the VW stock to rise to unheard of levels due to short squeezes and potential market manipulation. Part of the reason is that not all of the VW stock is publically traded, some is owned by the German government. Right now it is selling for three times its actual worth down from six times its actual worth a week or so ago. This is all causing Porsche options to swing wildly too.

All I care about is whether any of this will affect them making my favorite cars. If they have so much money, I wish they would spend it making a top tier Le Mans car.

Porsche was always VW's dad, not so strange for me.

As long as we dont see a "Golf" type car with a porsche badge on then they can do whatever they like......the Cayenne/Touareg thingymajig was more than enuf.......even though admittedly the Cayenne is the reason Porsche's profits went thru the roof!!!

A reverse takeover would be interesting, and probably aknock out punch from the VW camp, but i think Porsche is too strong an entity for that....at the moment anyway, u never know how things pan out nowadays!

And I agree with Philip too.....PORSCHE HAS TO SPEND MONEY AND WIN LE MANS AGAIN.....when was the last time u saw a Porsche Supercup race, and weren't bored out of ur mind??

I can't see Porsche not wanting to be the chiefs in this case. They were the ones who spent all the money. VW will have considerable influence, but it will be a Porsche man in the box seat.

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Porsche Balks at ‘Ultimatum’ on VW Merger Agreement (Update2)

By Brian Parkin

June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Porsche SE supervisory board Chairman Wolfgang Porsche balked at an ultimatum from Volkswagen AG and the state of Lower Saxony to agree on a blueprint for the merger of the two carmakers.

A June 29 deadline to agree the corporate marriage that was first reported today in German newspapers is “blackmail” and “damaging” to the companies, Porsche, who is also a major shareholder in the eponymous sports-car maker, said in a statement. “We won’t let ourselves be blackmailed.”

Details of an alleged merger plan reported in Focus and Der Spiegel magazines reveal Porsche being forced to sell 49 percent of its shares to VW as a first step to a merger. In a second step, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund would buy VW shares held by Porsche ahead of a full merger of the two carmakers.

Wolfgang Porsche’s confirmation of the ultimatum suggests VW and Qatar are losing patience with the indebted sports-car maker. The shareholder, while struggling to retain influence at VW after failing to win control of the Wolfsburg-based company, may be further sidelined as Qatar and the maker of the Golf car carve out a new shareholder structure.

Volkswagen is “annoyed and tired of the power struggle within the company,” Arndt Ellinghorst, a London-based automotive analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG, said in a telephone interview today. “Volkswagen wants integration, but on its terms.”

Direct Talks

While Porsche has been accumulating stock in VW since 2005 to protect ties in the company, it has become indebted after speculative investments and has taken up talks with Qatar to seek help in plugging a 9 billion euro ($12.6 billion) gap in its finances.

Qatar, the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, may only vouch financial help after Porsche merges with Europe’s biggest carmaker, said Spiegel, citing no-one. While the emirate and the maker of the 911 sports car are in direct talks on a loan to help plug the company’s net debt, a merger is a condition of Qatar’s help, according to the German magazine.

Spiegel said that the shareholder structure of an integrated company would comprise a 40 percent holding by the Porsche and Piech families, 20 percent by Lower Saxony, 15 percent held by Qatar and 5 percent by an unidentified sovereign wealth fund.

VW is sending a “‘strong signal” to Porsche, according to Ellinghorst. “It’s saying ‘Lets get it done now -- we’ve a strategic investor in Qatar that supports integration and Porsche needs us both.’”

Net Debt

Porsche, which owns at least 50.8 percent of VW, also holds some call options that could be converted into about 20 percent of VW shares. Porsche may sell a stake for as much as 2.5 billion euros to Qatar to help reduce its net debt, people familiar with the plan said June 15. Stuttgart, Germany-based Porsche has applied for a 1.75 billion-euro loan from state- owned development bank KfW Group.

Spiegel said if Wolfgang Porsche and Chief Executive Officer Wendelin Wiedeking don’t agree to the plan VW will demand a 700 million euro loan repayment made to the sports-car maker, a step that would widen a rift between the two companies’ shareholders and jeopardize Qatar’s investment plan.

VW’s chief spokesman Peik von Bestenbostel declined to comment on details in the Spiegel report or on Porsche’s statement, when contacted by Bloomberg by phone today.

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

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Originally Posted by HeilSvenska (Post 868017)

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh: is right. Porsche should have stuck to making good cars with a good profit margin on those cars, instead of trying to be a hedge fund and playing with derivatives.

Who's your daddy now, Porsche?

Massive fail here. Although it was probably a process started before the global financial crisis, so not really so bad in context, but still a terrible situation to have gotten oneself into.

what's that? do I hear the sound of a Beetle 911 turbo? (lol a beetle with a boxer 6 and a 15G turbo) now that would be a fun girly car

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Originally Posted by 10000rpmlover (Post 868026)

what's that? do I hear the sound of a Beetle 911 turbo? (lol a beetle with a boxer 6 and a 15G turbo) now that would be a fun girly car

You think it's a joke, but it's closer than you think.
http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/res..._Carrera_1.jpg

0-60 in 10.6 seconds

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July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Porsche SE Chief Executive Officer Wendelin Wiedeking will step down after 16 years, paving the way for a merger between the 911 sports-car maker and Volkswagen AG.

Wiedeking, 56, as well as Chief Financial Officer Holger Haerter will leave with immediate effect, Stuttgart-based Porsche said in a statement distributed over the DGAP newswire today.

Wiedeking had opposed selling Porsche’s automotive unit to VW, Europe’s largest carmaker. Instead he engineered a strategy of accumulating Volkswagen shares, raising Porsche’s stake in VW to more than 50 percent this year excluding options that could be converted into an additional 20 percent holding. The swoop for VW also boosted Porsche’s debt to 10 billion euros ($14.2 billion), forcing the CEO to turn towards the company’s owners for capital and to court Qatar for an investment.

“Wiedeking’s course has split the families and caused major irritations in Porsche’s working ties with VW,” said Stefan Bratzel, head of the Center of Automotive Research Institute in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. “Wiedeking has no place in a combined VW-Porsche carmaker.”

Wiedeking’s salary contract stipulates that he earns 0.9 percent of Porsche’s pretax profit, according to the company. Based on the 8.57 billion-euro pretax income reported for the year through July 2008, the CEO received about 77 million euros, making him better paid than any leader of the 30 companies in Germany’s benchmark DAX Index, which includes VW and not Porsche.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aT.nET.1ZieQ

Except for his lack of top tier racing support; he really had a rock solid vision for PAG... which I respected tremendously.

Me too, I expect it's Piech who insisted he go, they weren't that matey.

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Originally Posted by pitfield (Post 868974)

Me too, I expect it's Piech who insisted he go, they weren't that matey.

I agree, i guess he was messing with the wrong guy :angry: