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Dr. Wolfgang Porsche, the head of Porsche Holding, and Porsche's group works council chairman Uwe Huck took time to answer Porsche staff questions about the impending takeover of VW. It appeared to go well enough: Wolfgang said the Porsche and Piech families met, and Ferdinand Piech, the head of VW, "clearly stated that he unreservedly supports the course of Porsche Automobil Holding SE in all points and is fully and entirely behind the chairmen." It was also said that Piech did not support the committee formed to approve Porsche and Audi cooperation, that the co-detemination agreement between Porsche and VW would remain fair to the larger and smaller company, and that the VW Law would be struck down.

The only thing missing from the love fest was... Ferdinand Piech. The VW chief and supposed cause of much of Porsche's troubles didn't attend -- his sentiments were conveyed by Dr. Porsche with peculiar phrasing. For instance, even though Porsche said Piech didn't approve of the technology sharing committee, Piech purposely didn't attend the meeting that cast the votes. It all sounded good, but until Piech is forced to sit down in public and decide one way or another, we'll wait for the next turn in the soap opera before we assume everything is safe. You can check out the details of this latest turn in the press release after the jump.

[Source: Porsche]

Continue reading Porsche and Piech families bury the hatchet, will probably be dug up again...

Porsche and Piech families bury the hatchet, will probably be dug up again... originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 07:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>porscheporsche buying vwPorscheBuyingVwvolkswagenvwvw lawVwLawTue, 28 Oct 2008 07:57:00 EST<![CDATA[Porsche plans to take absolute control of VW November 26]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/07/porsche-plans-to-take-absolute-control-of-vw-november-26/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/07/porsche-plans-to-take-absolute-control-of-vw-november-26/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/07/porsche-plans-to-take-absolute-control-of-vw-november-26/#commentsFiled under: ,


For a few years there at large profile gatherings in America - especially sporting events - people wielding signs that referenced the Bible passage "John 3:16" and said things like "Be prepared" and "The end is nigh" were a common sight. We wouldn't be surprised if signs began showing up around VW headquarters that read "He is coming, 26-11-08." But the "he" they'd be referring to is Wendelin Wiedeking, CEO of Porsche, now that Porsche has announced its plans to take a greater-than-50-percent share in VW before the end of November.

Porsche's annual meeting is on November 26. The company hasn't said how big a stake it plans to take, nor when it will be doing the taking, but it's apparently ready to get this whole VW-ownership escapade into an endgame. There are still legal issues and technical challenges and Lower Saxony to deal with, but we have a feeling it's going to be a lot more difficult to argue with the phrase "absolute majority."

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]

Porsche plans to take absolute control of VW November 26 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>europegermanylower saxonyLowerSaxonyporscheporsche buying vwporsche buys volkswagenPorscheBuyingVwPorscheBuysVolkswagenvolkswagenvwvw lawVwLawTue, 07 Oct 2008 17:59:00 EST<![CDATA[Porsche gobbles up more of VW while takeover is delayed]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/20/porsche-gobbles-up-more-of-vw-while-takeover-is-delayed/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/20/porsche-gobbles-up-more-of-vw-while-takeover-is-delayed/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/20/porsche-gobbles-up-more-of-vw-while-takeover-is-delayed/#commentsFiled under: ,


A procedural glitch, as opposed to Berlin-based intrigue, has postponed Porsche's plan to take over Volkswagen. The EU Commission requires a company to have a controlling interest in a company, or at least an agreement for such, before it will consider a company's application for regulatory approval. To straighten things out, Porsche has raised its stake in VW from 30.6 percent to 35.5 percent, which effectively grants it control of the much larger carmaker.

There's still that issue of the Volkswagen Law and Lower Saxony's refusal to give up the fight for its minority-majority stake. Lower Saxony, the state that is home to VW and 150,000 workers who don't want to lose their jobs, just bought another 500,000 shares in VW to maintain its position.

The EU Commission, however, has already said that Lower Saxony cannot use the VW Law to maintain control. That makes Porsche the fox outside the henhouse, waiting on the inevitable moment when EU officers will come and unlock the doors. Even better for the sports car maker, because Porsche hedged the purchase of its VW stake with cash-settled derivatives, it is assumed to have only spent a "a fraction" of the published price for controlling interest.

[Source: Automotive News, sub req'd]

Porsche gobbles up more of VW while takeover is delayed originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>eulower saxonyLowerSaxonyporscheporsche buying vwPorscheBuyingVwvolkswagen lawVolkswagenLawvwvw lawVwLawFri, 20 Jun 2008 08:59:00 EST<![CDATA[Porsche tells VW: We won't eat you until after the holidays, Merry Christmas]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2007/11/28/porsche-tells-vw-we-wont-eat-you-until-after-the-holidays-mer/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/11/28/porsche-tells-vw-we-wont-eat-you-until-after-the-holidays-mer/http://www.autoblog.com/2007/11/28/porsche-tells-vw-we-wont-eat-you-until-after-the-holidays-mer/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Porsche got what it wanted with the repeal of the "Volkswagen Law", but has done nothing yet but stand over its prey, waiting for... well, nobody knows what Porsche is waiting for. However, Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking has told VW that the smaller company will not make Christmas dinner of the larger: Porsche will wait until after the holidays to take majority control of Volkswagen.

His exact words were "Christmas is the holiday of peace; let's create a little harmony." Yet there doesn't seem to be much of that going around. Porsche created a new board structure, and the board will have six seats. Porsche and VW workers thought that meant that each company got three seats each. VW, with 324,000 workers to Porsche's slightly-less-than 12,000, doesn't like that arrangement, so it's suing for more seats. Wiedeking clarified the board structure to say that either company could have as many seats as both sides could agree to -- but that he wouldn't go against Porsche employees' expectation of three.

So no one knows how the transaction will play out -- and to hear Wiedeking tell it, that includes him. "Even now," he said, "none of the players involved knows how many moves will still be required and how long it will take until the game is finally over." If this were a movie, he would then laugh maniacally, stroke the white cat in his lap, and hit the big red button on the console in front of him. But it's not. So, like everyone else, we'll just wait and see.

[Source: IHT]

Porsche tells VW: We won't eat you until after the holidays, Merry Christmas originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>porscheporsche buying vwPorscheBuyingVwvolkswagenvolkswagen lawVolkswagenLawvwvw takeoverVwTakeoverWed, 28 Nov 2007 13:04:00 EST