VW's Winterkorn Said to Be Considered to Run Porsche
Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG Chief ExecutiveOfficer Martin Winterkorn may lead the Porsche SE holdingcompany under a plan being discussed today by the carmakers’supervisory boards, two people familiar with the matter said.
Winterkorn would be appointed to run the holding company,which manages the sports-car manufacturer’s automotive businessand its stake in Volkswagen, said the people, who declined to beidentified because the boards had yet to announce anynominations. The boards are also deciding on whether to appointVolkswagen Chief Financial Officer Hans Dieter Poetsch to thesame position at Porsche SE, they said.
Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking and CFO Holger Haerterstepped down July 23 and the Stuttgart, Germany-based maker ofthe 911 sports car named Michael Macht, its personnel chief, tosucceed Wiedeking as the head of the automotive business. Thatleft open who would run the holding company as Porsche andVolkswagen combine.
The boards are meeting today in Volkswagen’s home city ofWolfsburg, Germany, to agree on terms of the merger. Thecompanies announced plans in July for a transaction that wouldalso include a state-owned Qatari fund buying 17 percent ofVolkswagen, Europe’s largest carmaker, and a possible holding inPorsche. Executives have said that the merged company wouldeventually overtake Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggestcarmaker, in sales and profitability.
‘Synergies’
“This merger implies huge synergies,” Stefan Bratzel,head of the Center for Automotive Research Institute inBergisch-Gladbach, Germany, said before the meetings began.“Together, Volkswagen and Porsche can carve up the world’s carmarkets.”
Deutsche Presse-Agentur news agency, citing unidentifiedpeople close to the Volkswagen board, reported that it hadapproved the appointment as well as the terms of the merger.Frank Gaube, a Porsche spokesman, and Peik von Bestenbostel, aspokesman for Volkswagen, declined to comment on the report oron the boards’ decisions in advance of an announcement.
Volkswagen rose as much as 6.71 euros, or 3 percent, to232.87 euros and was up 0.4 percent as of 3:13 p.m. in Frankfurttrading. Porsche gained as much as 1.50 euros, or 3.4 percent,to 45.40 euros and was up 2.6 percent.
Amassing Debt
The combination would end a four-year feud for control thatled to Porsche amassing at least 10 billion euros ($14.2billion) in debt as it accumulated 51 percent of Volkswagen’sstock in a failed takeover attempt.
Wiedeking quit last month, leaving a job he had held for 16years, after his company’s board committed to selling itscarmaking operations to VW and seeking as much as 5 billioneuros in capital, with Qatar as a possible investor. The PersianGulf state would be the first shareholder outside the Porscheand Piech families to hold voting rights in the 78-year-oldcompany’s history.
Wiedeking had sought to reach a 75 percent stake inVolkswagen, a holding that could have given Porsche access toVW’s cash. Porsche held options for 20 percent of Volkswagen’sstock as part of the takeover effort. The sports-car maker saidon July 29 that it aimed to sell some of the options to Qatarand that writedowns on the derivatives would cause a pretax lossof as much as 5 billion euros for the year ended July 31.
Volkswagen raised its goal for full-year vehicle sales aweek ago, saying it expects a decline in deliveries in 2009 tobe limited to 5 percent instead of a previous estimate of a 10percent drop.
Protecting Credit Rating
Poetsch said on July 30 that the combination has thepotential to create the car industry’s most profitable company.At the same time, the CFO said, Volkswagen will take “anynecessary measures” to protect its credit rating.
Both carmakers pledged on July 23 to create an “integratedcarmaking company.” Volkswagen said it’s targeting a“successive” acquisition of Porsche AG in advance of mergingwith Porsche SE.
The sports-car manufacturer’s quality-control and “highlyqualified staff” is likely to help the merged company matchToyota’s performance with deliveries and earnings, DetlefWittig, Volkswagen’s sales chief, said in an interview publishedby Autogazette on Aug. 7 that was confirmed by VW spokesmanMichael Brendel.
Qatar’s holding in Volkswagen would rank third, afterPorsche’s stake and the 20 percent owned by the German state ofLower Saxony.
“Lower Saxony will remain a strong and reliableshareholder at Volkswagen,” state Deputy Prime Minister PhilippRoesler, a member of Volkswagen’s supervisory board, saidyesterday in an interview. “We expect Qatar to be aconstructive player in the new VW-Porsche structure.”
To contact the reporter on this story:Chad Thomas in Helsinki at cthomas16@bloomberg.net;Cornelius Rahn in Wolfsburg, Germany, via crahn2@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: August 13, 2009 09:19 EDTSource: Bloomberg
« Back to Business News
Related News
-
Volkswagen Will Pay $2.5 Billion for 19.9% Stake in Japan's Suzuki Motor Aug 13, 2009 @ 07:22 AM
Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largestcarmaker, agreed to buy 19.9 percent of Suzuki Motor Corp. for222.5 billion yen ($2.5 billion) to boost its presence in India.
-
Magna's Failed Opel Bid May Preserve Its Auto-Parts Customers Aug 13, 2009 @ 07:22 AM
Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Magna International Inc.’s failed bidfor General Motor Co.’s Opel division may prevent the auto-partssupplier from losing customers that would balk at buyingcomponents from a rival vehicle maker, analysts said.
-
Volkswagen May Add Two Brands After Acquiring Porsche Aug 13, 2009 @ 07:22 AM
Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largestautomaker, may add two more brands after acquiring Porsche SE’ssports-car business, according to Supervisory Board ChairmanFerdinand Piech.
-
Carmakers at Frankfurt Show Try to Shake Crisis Mentality Aug 13, 2009 @ 07:22 AM
FRANKFURT — After a year that threatened to engulf the business in a bruising contraction in world trade and most Western economies, manufacturers have arrived at the Frankfurt auto show more eager to sell cars than spread apocalyptic warnings.
-
FACTBOX: Auto show execs comment on economy, outlook Aug 13, 2009 @ 07:22 AM
(Reuters) - Here are comments made by executives from the global automotive industry at the Frankfurt Motor Show this week on the economy and the industry outlook.
