Volkswagen to buy Porsche outright
One could not have foreseen this happening just a few years ago, but Volkswagen has recently announced that it will acquire the remaining Porsche stake – considering that it already owns 49.0 percent which they bought in 2009.
The two German carmaking powerhouses have agreed to this deal with Volkswagen paying 4.46 billion EurosEuros for the remaining 50.1 percent stake in Porsche Automobil Holding SE.
That in itself is quite interesting but even more-so is the fact that the deal came after several months in which both companies’ lawyers looked into the process and identified a loophole that would allow Volkswagen to avoid paying $1.2 billion tax bill if they classify the purchase as a restructuring as opposed to a takeover.
This is important because not only does it make the purchase easier to make, but it also allows it to be made much earlier than previously thought, two years earlier in fact.
Everyone on both sides of the deal is quite happy with this turn of event seeing as how this means that Volkswagen and Porsche can streamline their businesses sooner together on future “high-margin premium” projects.
It is expected that Porsche will become an integral part of the Volkswagen group and in the words of VW CEO Martin Winterkorn:”this is good for Volkswagen, good for Porsche and good for Germany as an industrial location”.
Volkswagen have always had a close relationship with Porsche, for instance the Porsche Cayenne, the Volkswagen Touareg and Audi Q7 share a common architecture, and the Porsche Macan and Audi Q5 will also share one as well.
With the complete acquisition of Porsche the Volkswagen Group will be made up of 12 active automotive and motorcycle companies: Audi, Bentley, Ducati, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen passenger cars and commercial vehicles, Scania and Man.
