Porsche acquisition of VW shares akin to a "hostile takeover"

Posted Wed Feb 27 2008 8:58 AM by James Martinez

In terms of production numbers Porsche is considered a small player in the auto industry, churning out around 100,000 cars per year. Volkswagen Group on the other hand is one of the biggest players with the likes of Audi, Bentley and Laborghini under its belt and whose production numbers run into the millions. Despite the size differential, in an odd turn of events Porsche is on the verge of taking over full control of VW. The sports carmaker already owns a 31% stake in VW and CEO Wendeling Wiedeking has openly admitted to much bigger plans for the cooperation and many fear it could eventuate into a full blown hostile takeover.

Whether this turns out to be a full on takeover is still up in the air but according to VW union boss Bernd Osterloh the decision has already been made and it looks like it’s in favor or Porsche. Speaking in front of a gathering of VW workers, Osterloh said Porsche's acquisition of VW shares is increasingly becoming a "hostile takeover," reports Thomson Financial.

Osterloh gave an example of the recent formation of the Porsche Automobilholding holding company, which will control both Porsche and VW. "I mean it has to be really called 'Volkswagen and Porsche Automobilholding'," he commented. The VW union is unhappy Porsche will have several members on the holding company supervisory board despite only employing about 5,000 employees. They argue VW should have more board members since it employs tens of thousands of staff. Unfortunately, it appears as though their claims are falling on deaf ears.

MotorAuthority