Porsche stock market flotation to comprise 911 million shares priced between $114 and $123.
Porsche AG’s initial public offering (IPO) will be made up of 911 million shares – an apparent reference to its iconic sports car – priced between €76.50 (AUD$114) and €82.50 AUD$(123).
These shares will be split 50:50 into 455.5 million preferred shares (which get priority over receiving dividends) and 455.5 million ordinary shares (which enable voting rights for issues including company strategy), with only the former being listed publicly.
This amounts to 12.5 per cent of the company being offered in a move that Porsche CEO Oliver Blume called an “icebreaker”, expected to raise between €18.1bn and €19.5bn (AUD$27bn-$29bn) for a raft of new electric cars.
Volkswagen Group chief financial officer Arno Antlitz said “we are now in the home stretch with the IPO plans for Porsche”, signalling that the stock offering – which is due to proceed by early October – is imminent.
Blume said in an earlier statement that the IPO will “open up a new chapter” for Porsche and “strengthen [its] ability to further execute [its] strategy”.
The Porsche and Piëch families were approved for 25 per cent-plus-one of the ordinary shares through Porsche Automobil Holding SE, the majority shareholder of the Volkswagen Group, at the IPO price plus 7.5 per cent. This gives the families veto powers for Porsche’s major strategic decisions.
The Qatar Investment Authority – which owns 10.5 per cent of the Volkswagen Group – has committed to purchasing a 4.99 per cent stake in Porsche AG through the IPO.
The sovereign funds of Abu Dhabi and Norway, plus investment fund T Rowe Price, have also agreed to purchase preferred shares amounting to €300m, €750m, and €750m respectively (AUD$447m, $1.12bn, and $1.12bn).
Should the IPO prove successful, the Volkswagen Group will hold an extraordinary general meeting to propose paying shareholders a 49 per cent dividend on the total gross proceeds of the IPO.
Regardless of the finer details, this range eclipses Europe’s previous most valuable IPO: Deutsche Telekom’s €13bn (AUD$19.3bn) listing in 1996.
Antlitz earlier said the Porsche IPO also gives the Volkswagen Group greater flexibility on a public offering for its battery division, Powerco.
Charlie Martin