Porsche: IPO key to Volkswagen’s electrification strategy
Porsche’s IPO is key to funding Volkswagen’s €52bn electrification strategy, Volkswagen executives said ahead of today’s board meeting.
In an internal interview published on Monday, the group’s chief operating officer Arno Antlitz said the proceedings “would give us [Volkswagen] more flexibility to further accelerate the transformation,” as the German car maker aims to overtake Tesla as the world’s largest producer of battery-electric cars by 2024.
The luxury brand’s operating profit went up 22 per cent in the first half of the year, compared with the 8 per cent posted by Volkswagen.
Volkswagen’s board will decide later today whether to go ahead with the luxury brand’s much anticipated listing set for late September or early October.
The group will announce its intention to float following the supervisory board’s green light.
“It’s paving the way, but this would not guarantee that the stock market bell will ring in the end,” a person close to the matter told Reuters.
Sources said the marquee could shorten or extend the period to allow buyers to express interest. Volkswagen could pull the plug on the move altogether if investors don’t show enough interest due to unstable market conditions.
According to Refinitiv data, Porsche’s valuation could range between €60bn and €85bn – the largest valuation of a sports car in Europe in more than 20 years.
Antlitz initially confirmed the IPO in late July, saying it was going ahead “with more emphasis than before” even after the resignation of chief executive Herbert Diess and his replacement with Porsche’s boss Oliver Blume.
Blume, who took over on 1 September, is leading both Porsche and the wider group.
Morning Wire has approached Volkswagen for further comment.