Shortly after the subscription period, the demand for preferred shares of the sports car manufacturer skyrocketed. Shortly before the Porsche boss rings the stock exchange bell, the issue price is now set. One thing is clear: It will be the largest IPO in 25 years.
With the IPO of the sports car subsidiary Porsche, Volkswagen collects almost 9.4 billion euros. The preferred shares will be issued to investors for EUR 82.50 each, which is at the upper end of the previously announced range of EUR 76.50 to EUR 82.50 per share. VW announced this after the end of the subscription period. This makes the IPO of Porsche AG the largest initial issue in Germany since Telekom in 1996.
“We are very pleased that we were able to carry out a successful IPO for Porsche AG,” said VW CFO Arno Antlitz. The high demand shows the confidence of investors in Porsche. The sports car manufacturer is now benefiting from more agility and entrepreneurial independence. The proceeds from the IPO gave Volkswagen more financial flexibility in the transformation towards electromobility and digitization. As of Thursday, around 114 million of the 911 million Porsche securities can be traded on the stock exchange. This includes almost 15 million shares to cover over-allotments. Based on the issue price, Porsche has a market capitalization of around 75 billion euros. That’s less than was expected prior to the recent stock market turmoil, but is in line with what analysts were recently forecasting.
For comparison: The stock market value of Volkswagen was around 84 billion euros on Wednesday. The Wolfsburg hope that the IPO of the Swabian yield pearl will also increase their own value. It had already been expected that the paper would level off at the upper end of the scale previously issued.
Shortly after the start of the subscription period on September 20, participating banks reported that demand exceeded supply across the entire price range. A possible partial IPO had been speculated for years. The plans then became official in early September amidst the difficult market environment resulting from the Ukraine war. In addition to private investors from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy and Spain, four anchor investors are also involved, including the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund. The VW major shareholder Qatar secured almost five percent of the shares. Overall, according to Porsche, preference shares worth up to 3.7 billion euros are at stake for the four major investors.
In preparation for the IPO, the share capital of Porsche AG was divided half into non-voting preferred shares and half with voting ordinary shares. A quarter of the assets – about an eighth of all shares – have now been sold. In addition, the holding company Porsche SE (PSE) receives 25 percent plus one share of the parent company for a purchase price of 88.69 euros. This gives PSE, controlled by the Porsche and Piëch families, a blocking minority and influence on important decisions. A total of 10.1 billion euros will flow into the coffers of Volkswagen AG as a result of the deal.
Among other things, Volkswagen wants to use the proceeds to finance billions in investments in electromobility and digital technology. Almost 49 percent of the proceeds could go to the VW shareholders – an extraordinary general meeting is to vote on this in December. Also the VW employees in the house tariff and in Saxony waving a bonus of 2000 euros. Porsche has not yet officially announced the amount of a possible bonus for employees.
