Porsche is sold to VW

[John Straub]

Well,

It has happened...Porsche will be sold to VW.

Does that mean we're all driving VW's now.

John


http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/ ... AM20090718

[Dan Chambers]

Well,

Does that mean we're all driving VW's now.

John


http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/ ... AM20090718

I thought we had been all along ....

[John Straub]

Wiedeking resigns

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Wall Street Journal

By CHRISTOPH RAUWALD

FRANKFURT -- Porsche Automobil Holding SE Thursday said Chief Executive Wendelin Wiedeking is leaving the German sports-car maker with immediate effect, hours after the company's supervisory board approved his plan for a capital increase of at least €5 billion ($7.1 billion) and unanimously backed talks with Qatar over a capital injection.

Porsche Chief Financial Officer and Wiedeking confidant Holger Haerter also resigned.

"Wiedeking and Haerter have come to the conclusion that the further strategic development of Porsche ... is better off, if they are not on board as acting persons," the Stuttgart-based company said in a statement following an extraordinary board meeting that started Wednesday evening.

The move -- along with the announcement that Porsche will seek to raise funds – is expected to make it easier for Volkswagen and Porsche to merge given that Mr. Wiedeking opposed such a move.

"The measure shall create the foundation of building an integrated car manufacturing group with Porsche SE and Volkswagen AG," a company statement said.

Porsche has been locked in a fierce power struggle with Volkswagen. Its attempt to gain full control over its much larger German peer backfired when credit markets dried up amid the financial crisis.
[Mr. Wiedeking had come under fire from Ferdinand Piech, the powerful labor unions of VW and the German state of Lower Saxony.] Getty Images

Mr. Wiedeking had come under fire from Ferdinand Piech, the powerful labor unions of VW and the German state of Lower Saxony.

Porsche said Mr. Wiedeking accepted a compensation package of €50 million for his contract expiring in 2012. Mr. Haerter will receive €12.5 million as compensation, Porsche said, adding that both executives "waived rights deriving from their current contracts in a substantial amount." Mr. Wiedeking said in a statement that he will donate a substantial amount of money to social projects and charity organizations.

Messrs. Wiedeking and Haerter will "provide advice to both companies as wished by the supervisory board" and will "support their respective successor in their tasks."

The head of production and logistics at Porsche's core sports-car operations, Michael Macht, will replace Mr. Wiedeking as the operation's chief executive.

Thomas Edig, the operation's head of human resources, will become his deputy. Messrs. Macht and Edig have been appointed as executive board members at Porsche's holding company as well, with Mr. Macht being in charge of technology and products and Mr. Edig with responsibility for commercial issues and administration.

Mr. Wiedeking, Germany's highest-paid executive, had come under fire from Volkswagen's influential supervisory board chairman and Porsche co-owner Ferdinand Piech, Volkswagen's powerful labor unions and the German state of Lower Saxony, which can block important decisions at the Wolfsburg-based auto maker through its 20.1% stake.

Speculation about Mr. Wiedeking's departure has swirled since Mr. Piech said May 11 in Italy during one of his rare public appearances that he favored Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn, one of his closest confidants, as head of a combined company.

Mr. Piech advocated an outright sale of Porsche's coveted sports-car operations to Volkswagen, which would make it the 10th brand of Europe's largest auto empire, comprising vehicles ranging from the super-luxury Bugatti Veyron sportscar to Scania AG's heavy trucks.

Mr. Wiedeking boosted the families' wealth by saving Porsche from the brink of bankruptcy in the early 1990s and transforming the closely held firm into the world's most profitable car maker. Porsche reaped huge windfall profits from its holding in Volkswagen after launching its stealth takeover in 2005 by bypassing disclosure rules through a complex set of stock options. Porsche is still Volkswagen's majority shareholder with a stake of almost 51% and controls options to hike its stake by another 20%.

But Porsche's plan to boost its stake to 75% and access Volkswagen's cash reserves went wrong as credit markets tightened and a steep fall in demand ate into the sportscar operation's earnings. Tables turned in the two companies' power struggle when Porsche's net debt ballooned to around €10 billion as it built its holding in Volkswagen and the Wolfsburg-based company in March had to grant its parent a €700 million loan.
—The Associated Press contributed to this article.
__________________

[Dan Chambers]

I'm having flash-backs.

Is this 1972? Are bell-bottoms in vogue?

Are kids listening to Lead Zepplin and Jackson Browne?

Isn't a bong a Chinese doorbell?

I'm sooooo confused.

DC

[harnishclan]

Are kids listening to Lead Zepplin and Jackson Browne?

There is the problem! All this time it has been "Lead" Zepplin instead of "Led" Zepplin, obviously a case lead poisoning.

[Dan Chambers]

All this time it has been "Lead" Zepplin instead of "Led" Zepplin, obviously a case lead poisoning.

I should'a stayed away from those "paint-chip" appetizers....

[cam]

Are kids listening to Lead Zepplin and Jackson Browne?

There is the problem! All this time it has been "Lead" Zepplin instead of "Led" Zepplin, obviously a case lead poisoning.

zeppelin if you're getting picky

[surfnchaz]

Porsche AG sold to "VW Porsche" All good, right? So the cousins win the battle - I loved the way the snookered Wiedeking. (Jerk deserved it) He didn’t fair very well in the battle of the “golden handshake” either – 100M euro to 25M. Darn.