Porsche Board Moves; Direction Unclear

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

In a surprise announcement, Porsche Automobil Holding SE said early Thursday morning that its supervisory board approved a capital increase of at least €5 billion as part of a move toward forging a combined company with Volkswagen AG, Automobilwoche [sub] reports.


The capital increase can be “in cash and/or a contribution in kind. According to Automobilwoche, this move indicates that Wiedeking is on the way out, and that a merger with Volkswagen is close.

However, at 3 a.m. in the morning, the supervisory board also announced that it authorized Porsche’s to conclude negotiations with the Gulf state of Qatar over an investment in Porsche, Reuters reports.

At the time of this typing, the nightly supervisory board meeting was still ongoing.

It is currently unclear how this will pan out. However, most observers think that Volkswagen will swallow Porsche instead of Porsche swallowing Volkswagen.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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