#PorscheAutomobilHolding

Despite news that Volkswagen Group’s largest shareholder is eager to list the Porsche brand, rumors are swirling that the plan might be delayed over the conflict in Eastern Europe. VW and Porsche SE have openly shared their desire to launch the initial public offering (IPO) in the fourth quarter of 2022. However Porsche Automobil Holding SE’s finance head has suggested it might not be prudent if Russia is still occupying parts of Ukraine.

“We cannot rule out, if the conflict lasts a longer time, that this could have potential implications on the listing,” CFO Johannes Lattwein recently explained during a press conference held in Berlin, adding that no formal decisions have yet been made.

After an extended battle with his family, Ferdinand Piëch has finally acquiesced to resign from the board of Porsche Automobil Holding SE and sell off his remaining shares. At 80 years of age, leaving VW Group’s parent company was probably long overdue for Piëch, but you can’t help but wonder if the manner in which his retirement unfolded hasn’t left him bitter.

Still, with his 14.7 percent stake rumored to be worth over a billion euros, he’ll have the means to stage the most elaborate revenge any of us could possibly imagine — assuming that’s what he intends. One certainly could make the case that he’d have valid reasons for doing it.

Porsche Automobil Holding SE has denied it intentionally misled investors over the severity of the VW emissions cheating crisis in 2015. With Volkswagen AG’s Chief Executive Officer Matthias Müller now personally caught up in the growing market manipulation investigation, it was only a matter of time before Porsche Automobil Holding released a statement to assure investors the board had done its job appropriately.

Müller’s joining of former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn, supervisory board chair Hans Dieter Poetsch, and board member Herbert Diess as the focus of government probes has made the situation appear fishier than a trawler’s top deck. However, at this week’s annual shareholders meeting, Poetsch said he is convinced none of the board members are guilty of any wrongdoing — presumably, he included himself in the statement.

“We perceive all legal claims against Porsche SE relating to the diesel issue as unfounded,” he explained.