Volkswagen Ex-Chairman in Talks With Remaining Heirs to Sell Most of Stake -- Update
17 Marzo 2017 - 10:58PM
Dow Jones News
By William Boston
BERLIN -- Ferdinand Piech, whose grandfather designed the
original VW Beetle, is in talks with the remaining heirs to sell
most of his shares that control Volkswagen AG, the family holding
said Friday.
Mr. Piech, who turns 80 this year, holds about 14.7% of the
common stock of Porsche Automobil Holding SE, the family holding
that controls about 52% of the voting stock of Volkswagen.
Mr. Piech's shares are worth about EUR1.14 billion ($1.22
billion) based on Friday's share price of EUR50.84. Under
agreements with other heirs in the Piech and Porsche families, the
family has the first option to purchase Mr. Piech's shares.
The family holding has about EUR1.2 billion in cash on its
balance sheet that could be used to finance the acquisition of Mr.
Piech's shares, according to a person familiar with the
situation.
The sale would be the final step in Mr. Piech's withdrawal from
the role of power broker at Volkswagen. He resigned as chairman of
the supervisory board in 2015 after a bitter feud with his family
over his efforts to oust then-Chief Executive Martin
Winterkorn.
Mr. Piech's relationship with Volkswagen has remained tense
since then. Mr. Winterkorn survived the attacks from his former
mentor, but when U.S. authorities disclosed on Sept. 18, 2015, that
Volkswagen had rigged diesel engines to cheat emissions tests, Mr.
Winterkorn resigned under pressure.
In February, Volkswagen threatened Mr. Piech with legal action
when sworn testimony that he gave to investigators alleged that Mr.
Winterkorn knew about the emissions cheating long before it became
public. Mr. Winterkorn has denied the allegation.
The sale of Mr. Piech's shares in Porsche Holding would also
mark the end of an era during which the talented but cantankerous
engineer transformed Volkswagen from a company near collapse into a
global automotive conglomerate that last year fulfilled his dream
of overtaking Toyota Motor Corp, to become the world's biggest auto
maker.
The share sale would have no direct impact on Volkswagen AG or
its subsidiaries that include car makers Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi,
Skoda, SEAT, Bentley and Lamborghini. But it could spark a
realignment of the family's representation at the company.
At the end of May, the Porsche Holding supervisory board is set
to be restructured. Under an agreement with the IG Metall trade
union, which now has seats on the holding's board, labor
representatives would step down and the board will be reduced in
size.
Mr. Piech is expected to step down from the Porsche Holding
board at that meeting. One of his cousins, Hans-Peter Porsche, who
turns 77 years old this year, could also step down and hand the
reins to his son, Peter Daniell Porsche, according to the person
familiar with the situation.
"These things are all under discussion now and could be decided
soon," the person said.
The changing of the guard within the Porsche clan that controls
Volkswagen will bring a new generation of family members into key
positions. But unlike their fathers, none of them are engineers
with the ambition of playing an active role in the day-to-day
management of the company.
If Mr. Piech relinquishes his remaining ties to Volkswagen by
selling his shares, he could be the last heir of Ferdinand Porsche
to play an active role in designing Volkswagen vehicles and
managing the business.
Write to William Boston at william.boston@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 17, 2017 17:43 ET (21:43 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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