Volkswagen Considers Listing Minority Stake in Porsche--Update
February 18 2021 - 12:15PM
Dow Jones News
By William Boston
BERLIN -- Volkswagen AG is considering listing as much as 25% of
its sports car maker Porsche AG, a move that analysts say could
boost the market value of the entire VW group and raise cash needed
for investment in electric vehicles and new technology.
The idea of listing Porsche or luxury car maker Audi is not new
within VW's top management, but people familiar with the company's
thinking said that the conversation within VW has taken on a new
quality as the company pivots hard toward electric vehicles and
sees its market value dwarfed by new tech rivals such as Tesla
Inc.
Still, the discussions are still at a very early stage, they
said, adding that if Volkswagen decided to move forward with the
listing, it might not happen until next year.
Shares in VW were up almost 4% to EUR167.80 in late afternoon
trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange.
VW declined to comment.
It is unclear how much a listing could raise for VW, but a
recent report by Bernstein Research analyst Arndt Ellinghorst
estimated that Porsche's Taycan electric car business alone could
be worth as much as EUR40 billion compared to VW's market
capitalization of EUR87 billion. Porsche is on its way to be a
nearly pure electric car company by 2025.
As the global battle for leadership in the nascent market for
electric cars and self-driving vehicles intensifies this year,
conventional auto makers are facing off with newcomers like Tesla
and tech giants such as Apple that have piles of cash or huge stock
market valuations allowing them to use their shares as currency for
acquisitions.
Conventional auto makers such as VW are trying to squeeze as
much cash out of their operations as possible, but are still stuck
holding stock that investors do not value as highly as their
upstart rivals.
As a result, they have increasingly sought to unlock value by
loosening their conglomerate structures and selling or listing
peripheral businesses to improve their overall market values.
Earlier this month, Daimler AG said it would split into two
companies and spin off a "significant majority" of its truck
business to Daimler shareholders by the end of the year. The move
follows Volkswagen's decision to list its truck division, Traton
SE, in 2019.
Analysts have been pressing Volkswagen to take further steps and
list Porsche and Audi. VW recently squeezed out Audi's few
remaining minority shareholders, but it is not clear if VW is also
considering a separate listing for Audi.
The news of a possible Porsche listing was first reported by
Germany's Manager Magazine.
Write to William Boston at william.boston@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 18, 2021 12:00 ET (17:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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