Volkswagen Acquires 49.9 Percent in Porsche

Just as expected last week, after Volkswagen's shareholders approved the capital increase, the German group moved on to its next step towards the integration with Porsche and announced the acquisition of 49.9 percent stake in Porsche AG.

Volkswagen payed 3.9 billion euros for the share, as the price was set based on the enterprise value for Porsche AG calculated "under a careful due diligence and valuation procedure."

"Following the Comprehensive Agreement concluded in August, the implementation agreements signed in November and the Volkswagen Extraordinary General Meeting held last week, the stake in Porsche AG represents the next milestone on the way towards the integrated automotive group with Porsche under the leadership of Volkswagen," Volkswagen said in a release.

Volkswagen expects yesterday's acquisition to have a "sustained positive effect on the earnings situation of the Volkswagen Group." After all, given its 10.3 percent return on sales, Porsche is the world’s most profitable carmaker.

"In addition, the planned integration of Porsche in the Volkswagen Group and the associated closer cooperation will realize significant synergies on both the income and the cost side. As a result, the annual operating profit of the Volkswagen Group is expected to increase by some €700 million in the long term."

The next steps to be taken by the two companies will not be visible for a little over a year. Volkswagen and Porsche plan the acquisition of the trading business of Porsche Holding Salzburg in 2011, the same year when the merge between the two is set to take place.