Volkswagen Sets Price Range for Porsche’s Blockbuster I.P.O.

The companies, whose decades-old histories are deeply intertwined, will retain strong ties after the stock offering. Volkswagen will retain a majority stake in Porsche, and the two automakers will share a chief executive, Oliver Blume.

Volkswagen said in a statement that it aimed to sell about 25 percent of Porsche’s preferred shares at €76.50 to €82.50, potentially yielding as much as €9.4 billion in proceeds. Volkswagen has already secured as investors in the offering the sovereign wealth funds of Qatar, Norway and Abu Dhabi, as well as the money-management firm T. Rowe Price.

And the Porsche and Piëch families — who trace their roots to the founding of Porsche and are collectively Volkswagen’s biggest shareholder — have agreed to buy a 12.5 percent stake in the sports car maker at 7.5 percent more than the offering’s price.

That could yield as much as €10.1 billion more for Volkswagen. Unlike the preferred shares being sold in the public offering, the families would receive voting stock, giving them a significant say in the way Porsche is run.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/19/business/volkswagen-porsche-ipo.html