Volkswagen boss: All of group’s brands preparing for IPO as exercise
Volkswagen’s boss Oliver Blume said all of the group’s subsidiaries are preparing to float as an exercise.
This comes on the heels of Porsche floating last Thursday in Frankfurt for €75bn (£67bn).
Blume explained on Tuesday that top officials at each brand – including Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini – were sharpening their focus ahead of a potential floating.
Results will then be presented at the group’s capital markets day next year.
“Within the Volkswagen Group, I sense a clear motivation to give capital markets a higher relevance,” Blume told German financial newspaper Handelsblatt.
“I could certainly imagine the Volkswagen Group as a sort of holding for various listed companies.
“Done wisely, it could add significant value and improve the competitiveness of the group and brands.”
Blume’s remarks came on the same day Volkswagen’s majority stakeholder – holding company Porsche SE – began acquiring shares in the luxury car maker.
In today’s first tranche, the holding acquired 17.5 per cent of ordinary shares – which carry voting rights – for €7.1bn.
The second tranche, worth 7.5 per cent, will be transferred in early 2023 when Volkswagen shareholders will receive 49 per cent of Volkswagen’s sale of its 12.5 per cent stake in the form of a special dividend.
The offloading, which will sustain Volkswagen’s €52bn electrification strategy, prompted speculation of further listings as a way to unlock the group’s value.
Volkswagen’s chief financial officer Arno Antitz increased speculation when he said that assessing a listing of battery subsidiary PowerCo was the next priority.