Volkswagen, Europe’s biggest carmaker, is still looking into floating its luxury sports car brand Porsche on the stock market, as a means of funding a shift to the production of electric vehicles, according to media reports.
Porsche could be worth between €45bn and €90bn (£38bn and £77bn) as a standalone company, Reuters reported.
No decision has been made on what would be a record-breaking Porsche listing, due to a complex shareholder structure, sources told Reuters, adding it was unclear whether an IPO would happen.
The German business newspaper Handelsblatt reported that the Porsche and Piëch families, who control Volkswagen’s largest shareholder Porsche SE, are considering selling part of their VW stake to fund a substantial shareholding in a possible Porsche IPO.
The families, who own 31.4% of VW shares and have 53.3% of voting rights via Porsche SE, could sell enough shares to raise around €15bn, the German paper said.
They would remain the largest shareholder in Volkswagen, Handelsblatt added.
Porsche SE called the report “pure speculation”, without giving further comment. Volkswagen declined to comment.
Asked about a potential listing of Porsche in October, its chief executive Herbert Diess said VW was constantly reviewing its portfolio, but gave no further comment.
Diess would probably stay on as the VW CEO although he would relinquish some responsibilities following a clash with labour leaders, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.