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Volkswagen's Supervisory Board lays
foundation for integrated automotive group Volkswagen - Porsche
At its extraordinary meeting today, the
Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft endorsed the
creation of an integrated automotive group with Porsche under
the leadership of Volkswagen. The Volkswagen Board of Management
will now begin talks with the newly-nominated representatives of
Porsche to jointly draw up a final concept to achieve this goal.
At the same time, a comprehensive auditing and assessment
process will be initiated as the prerequisite for signing an
agreement on the principles relating to the combination of the
two companies.
The integrated automotive group will be
formed from the progressive participation of Volkswagen in
Porsche AG and the subsequent merger of Porsche Automobil
Holding SE and Volkswagen AG. Porsche will remain an independent
company headquartered in Stuttgart. In the opinion of all
parties, this basic concept represents the best possible
solution for pooling the strengths of both companies as
envisaged.
The agreement on the principles which
is now to be negotiated will specify the further procedure and
the individual transaction steps. In this context, the
Supervisory Board expressly welcomes the inclusion of Qatar
among Volkswagen’s shareholders as a strategic partner committed
to supporting the goal of an integrated automotive group.
The final concept for the envisaged
union of Volkswagen and Porsche will preserve the Volkswagen
Group’s financial solidity and sustain its ability to act as
well as ensuring Porsche’s independence. Moreover, appropriate
consideration will be given to the interests of all stakeholders
when setting up the automotive group.
Volkswagen welcomes the intention of
the Porsche and Piëch family shareholders to retain a close
involvement in the further process and to remain the major
active shareholder of Volkswagen going forward. The Supervisory
Board of Porsche SE also approved the creation of the integrated
automotive group at its meeting today, laying down important
foundations to that end.
Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman
of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft,
commented: “The envisaged union of Volkswagen and Porsche
follows a compelling industrial logic and offers promising
perspectives: it makes two strong companies even stronger.
Volkswagen and Porsche have excellent know-how at their disposal
and can use their resources even more efficiently by combining
them. For this reason, we expect additional growth
opportunities, safeguarding existing jobs and creating new ones. |
