FRANKFURT — Porsche is open to the idea of a potential stock market listing, with finance chief Lutz Meschke saying the advantages of such a move had been laid out.
“The decision has to be made by the Volkswagen management and supervisory board. We have largely discussed the advantages of such an initial public offering or listing already,” Meschke said at Porsche’s annual media conference.
Faced with tens of billions of costs for a radical shift towards electric mobility and software, VW is mulling a listing of Porsche, sources said last month.
Meschke, who has previously commented on how Ferrari benefited from being listed by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, already argued in favor of listing Porsche in 2018, saying the unit could be worth up to 70 billion euros ($83 billion) in such a scenario.
However, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess earlier this week said that Porsche, which contributed 42 percent to VW’s operating profit in 2020, was vital to funding the group’s turnaround.
Meschke said in the case of a listing, shareholders in Porsche would naturally expect a dividend. That would allow Volkswagen to still share in the automaker’s success.
Boosted by details on its electric mobility strategy and positive broker comments, Volkswagen shares are up nearly a fifth so far this week, hitting their highest level since April 2015 on Thursday.
Commenting on the future of VW unit Bugatti, Meschke said there was a good fit with Croatian electric hypercar maker Rimac Automobili, in which Porsche has a 24 percent stake.
“There is a certain probability that Rimac and Bugatti will come together. There is no decision yet, but chances are good,” Meschke said.
VW’s Diess earlier this week said it was the group’s aim to transfer responsibility for Bugatti to Porsche, adding Porsche would most likely form a joint venture with Rimac involving Bugatti and end up owning a minority stake.
