Porsche AG might become Europe’s largest listing in a decade, should it go public.
When it comes to supercars, few brands have maintained sustainable desirability as Porsche. On the one hand they’ve been endlessly innovative – breaking ground with the Cayenne decades ago and the Taycan more recently. On the other hand, they’ve stayed largely true to their heritage, still offering a 911 with a six-cylinder boxer engine.
However, there’s no escape from electrification and this requires a huge amount of research and development. In order to raise the necessary funding, Volkswagen AG is looking to raise about 9.4 billion euros from the initial public offering of Porsche AG. Porsche would be in good company as a public listed company. Chief rival Ferrari has been public since late 2015.
The valuation for Porsche AG is estimated to be between 70 and 75 billion euros, but the timing of this deal couldn’t be stranger. The European market is in the midst of its worst energy crisis and extremely bad inflation. Initial estimates had a higher goal of 85 billion euros, but the situation probably drove that estimate down.
That being said, many important investors have given commitments to this exercise. These players include Qatar Investment Authority, T. Rowe Price, ADQ and Norway’s sovereign wealth fund.
The offer period will begin on the 20th of September 2022 and trading will begin 29th September 2022. Only 25% of Porsche preferred shares will be open to investors to subscribe to and these shares carry no voting rights.
The Porsche-Piech family will buy 25% plus one of Porsche’s common shares with voting rights, giving them a minority blocking stake. The German billionaire family lost control of Porsche about 10 years ago over a takeover battle with VW and will pay a 7.5% premium for this acquisition.
Porsche is set to introduce some highly anticipated models updates and facelifts. This includes an all-new Macan and its electric counterpart, the Boxster and Cayman ought to also get some updates soon, and it’ll only be a matter of time before a Cayenne facelift is shown.
