Porsche-Volkswagen Merger Annoys… Norway?
Since VW and Porsche started playing footsie, there have been enough twists and turns to fill TTAC’s pages with nothing but Deutsche drama. First there was Porsche’s audacious bid for Volkswagen’s. Then, there was Volkswagen’s fight back to take over Porsche. Now, the Norwegians are unhappy. Norges Bank Investment Management, the bank which manages the fund invests Norway’s huge oil revenues, fear that the takeover of Porsche by Herr Piech and his band of Merry Volkswageners will, as the NBIM said in a letter to the members of the board of Volkswagen, “leave the impression of being designed to suit the needs of the Porsche controlling families.” Avarice? In the Porsche families? What next?
The letter [via Bloomberg] continues: “unless the supervisory board takes steps to alleviate our concerns, we see little reason to support the execution of the proposed transactions.” Could there be a Norwegian spanner in Volkswagen’s German juggernaut? The letter goes on to stress “deep concerns” on NBIM’s part, that they are “not alone in this” and have been in contact with “big, international investors” without naming them. Bluffing? In the NBIM?
The NBIM doesn’t disclose its current holdings, but, to give an idea of the power the NBIM hold in this deal, owned $461 million worth of shares at the 2008, about 0.4 of VW’s common shares based on the value at the time. They also own 529 million Norwegian Kroner (about $93 million) worth of Porsche stock, too. Which means, for these Norwegian Vikings to stop this deal or (at the very least) stall this deal, they’ll have to start getting more people on their side. Highly unlikely. The German state of Lower Saxony (You know? Those guys who hold a blocking share in Volkswagen?) gave its blessing in August by signing the deal off. Stephen Pope, chief global market strategist for Cantor Fitzgerald in London, said in an interview. “It seems a bit late in the game to argue about the deal. The majority of investors want to get this over and done with.”.
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"montgomery burns : October 10th, 2009 at 11:59 am Autosavant : The Nobel Prize comes from Sweden. Just say’n. Edit: The prize is awarded in Oslo because at the time that Alfred Nobel set up the prize Norway and Sweden were joined in a union. Sorry to get OT." my comment is the same whether the leftie haters-idiots on the peace prize committee were Swedes or Norwegians. But I did read that they were very lef wing types elected by the NORwegian parliament. I know some prizes are awarded in one and some in the other nation. I think Econs is awarded in Norway while the ceremony for the others is in Sweden. Even Obama's prize involves a ceremony in one capital and a dinner in the other.