Porsche denies takeover bid for VW

Posted Sun Nov 19 2006 9:43 PM by Kenneth Hall

As the executive reshuffle at Volkswagen continues, the company’s largest shareholder Porsche is reported to be backing off on further plans to increase its holding in VW. German magazine Focus reports that Ferdinand Piech, whose family owns Porsche and who’s also the supervisory board chairman of VW, has told other members that he does not intend to take over Germany’s largest carmaker.

Last week, Porsche did increase its stake in VW to 27.4% and was given the green light to increase this to 29.9%. A 30% stake and beyond would force the sports carmaker to form a takeover bid. The magazine went further to claim that the financial risks surrounding a takeover bid are not in Porsche’s best interests and is the reason behind the company not increasing its stake further.

The placement of Audi boss Martin Winterkorn, who happens to be Piech’s closest ally, as the new CEO of VW has further added to the rumors of a power struggle within the German giant.

MotorAuthority