Decision of the supervisory board: VW decides to go public with Porsche

As expected, the Volkswagen supervisory board has initiated the IPO of the sports car subsidiary Porsche. It will be one of the largest IPOs in Europe in years.

Porsche AG should go public in the fall if possible. From the end of September or the beginning of October, some of the shares of the sports car subsidiary could be traded on the financial market, as DAX member Volkswagen announced late Monday evening after discussions with the board of directors and the supervisory board.

The aim is a listing in Frankfurt, the new issue could be fully implemented by the end of the year. These steps are planned “subject to further capital market developments”, it said.

The Wolfsburg group and the Porsche parent company Porsche SE (PSE), also listed in the leading index, had been examining the IPO since February. Europe’s largest car manufacturer wants to tap into additional sources of money. He hopes for an increase in value and wants to use the proceeds to pay for further investments worth billions.

In detail, the capital of Porsche AG is divided equally into non-voting preference shares and voting ordinary shares. Up to a quarter of the preferences – i.e. about an eighth of the total shares – should then go on sale.

At the same time, the PSE gets 25 percent plus one share of the stock, so it has a blocking minority influence on important AG decisions. The Stuttgart-based company has long been a high-yield pearl of the multi-brand group. The operational business with models such as the 911, Cayenne, Macan, Panamera and Taycan is bundled in Porsche AG. PSE, which is controlled by the Porsche and Piëch families, holds most of the voting rights in Volkswagen.

Subject to market developments

Volkswagen and PSE had previously pointed out that the concrete implementation of an IPO was “subject to market developments”. In particular, the consequences of the war in Ukraine, the sharp increase in energy prices worldwide and new problems in the supply chains made it difficult for companies to determine a suitable point in time. However, the current decision now marks a chronological specification.

Special dividend beckons

“In the event of a successful IPO, Volkswagen AG will convene an extraordinary general meeting for December 2022,” VW said. It should be proposed to shareholders “to distribute a special dividend in the amount of 49 percent of the total gross proceeds from the placement of preferred shares and the sale of common shares to shareholders in early 2023”.

A possible walk onto the floor had already been indicated several times. A more detailed plan to examine the project was initiated last winter under the old VW CEO Herbert Diess. Whose since September 1 acting successor Oliver Blume is now to implement the partial IPO – together with VW CFO Arno Antlitz, who also assumes an additional function as “Chief Operating Officer”. Blume will remain head of Porsche AG.