Preparing Volkswagen AG to an initial public offering for Porsche, as it seeks to list its most profitable assets to help boost the parent company’s valuation and fund the push to electric cars.
Under the scheme called “Phoenix”, the automaker and Porsche Automobil Holding SE, the main investment vehicle of the billionaire family of Porsche and Piech, have mapped out a framework that navigates Volkswagen’s complex chassis. Investors could be offered about 25% of the non-voting shares in the famous sports car maker while the family would buy a minority share of the frozen shares, according to Bloomberg sources, seen by Al Arabiya.net.
The initial value of the Porsche brand is estimated at $95 billion, partly reflecting the turbulent acquisition of Porsche more than a decade ago, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
The sources expected that the IPO would be completed in the second half of this year, and it might include special dividends for the Porsche and Pache families, which own 53% of the voting rights in Volkswagen.
The royal family, in the German state of Saxony and Qatar, together controls about 90% of the voting rights.
While outside investors will only own the non-voting shares, the Porsche and Beach family will retain long-term influence with 25% of the common stock with all voting rights plus one share, according to Bloomberg sources.
Europe’s largest carmaker has been pushing for years to adopt a less centralized corporate structure to become smarter and step up the challenge it faces with Tesla, as it successfully launched its electric models for the Porsche Taycan in March of last year.